#before that it had always been 'the anime girl with the really long blue/teal ponytails'

[deyostra-walos]

I do not listen to Hatsune Miku I do not care about Hatsune Miku

Despite this, I still get to tell people I've seen Hatsune Miku live (or as live as you can get) if ONLY because she opened for a Lady Gaga concert back in 2014... I only realized that a month ago, over a decade after the fact

[bandaigaeru]

summer love - lee minho

→genre: vacation au, strangers to lovers, a teeny bit of angst →synopsis: lee minho had randomly appeared on your vacation to a lake/campground. he was everywhere, until he wasn't. →word count: 11.1k →pairing: minho x fem. reader  (featuring yeji and yuna (itzy) & BooSeokSoon + mingyu (seventeen))

i.

Sunlight breaks past the slightly tinted window, crossing your eyes in a swift blinding act. You blink away, turning back into the busy car. The boy driving waves a dismissive hand back at the whining boy behind him.

"We're not stopping for coffee," the driver asserts, eyes drifting up to the rearview mirror as he shifts into the exit lane.

"Why not?" the boy behind him counters. "We're gonna pass it anyway."

"We're going camping," the girl beside you leans forward to smack her palm against the boy's shoulder.

"It's not really camping if we're gonna be in a house," he pouts, turning back to her. He even shoots a pleading gaze in your direction, as if you would have any power over this conversation with people you've briefly met.

You glance back to the blurred trees. They pass in what feels like hundreds every time you blink. Why does this have to be the last summer of freedom? Why can't time just slow down and allow you a final year of peace? An almost taunting desire to live adventurously strikes your mind. Yet even so, you're not sure you should have accepted this "camping" offer.

Yeji was certain this summer would be legendary, gripping at your shirt sleeve as she pleaded, "But please, come with. I don't think I can live with Soonyoung and Seungkwan for two weeks."

So you succumbed. Only with the faint certainty that something must come from this. Even if it was only a mundane, fleshy scar from a messy jump into the lake. You could picture a rock piercing your skin before you flinched up to water, threads of blood coursing behind you.

God, you need to live a little.

"Y/N," Yeji whines, dragging your mind back into the car.

You hum, looking over to her. Her sunglasses sat delicately on the tip of her nose, tempting to fall at the slightest twitch downward.

"Tell Seungkwan to stop his coffee cries."

"I just met the guy," you whisper, shooting a cautious glance at the pouting boy. His knees are drawn to his chest as he tempts his focus with a YouTube video.

"But you're intimidating," her lips are pursed when you return to her.

You fight a laugh. "That's a funny one."

Yuna, somehow tricked to sit in the trunk of the minivan, leans over the seat. "You are kinda scary."

They lead a powerpoint that must have been established prior to this conversation, for the specifications seem a little too clear. By the end of it, you simply shake your head. Intimidating is a strong word. You are simply quiet, you tell yourself.

The campsite is a desolate piece on the outskirts of a fancy city known for its grand skyscrapers and business opportunities. Columnar trees line a restricted area, where animals freely prance, protected by the idea of hunting. There are trails, the ranger told them when they checked in, that led to varying sights. A broad lake glitters beneath the humid sun. On top of that, clouds string themselves in sparse bursts.

At the cabin, Soonyoung and Seokmin bustle for the room with the best view.

"Hey," Yuna scolds, lugging her overfilled duffel bag on her shoulder, "Shouldn't you let the women choose first?"

For a quick moment, their eyes scan each other's faces before unisonly shaking their heads. "No."

You slip passed their noses into a barren room. White curtains inwardly swing from the impatient breeze. A deep breath parts from your lips as your eyes fall to the dark hardwood. Two weeks, you tell yourself. That's not too bad.

Deep laughter seeps from outside, sending an awakening jolt down to your feet. You lean towards the window, spotting a few boys on the lake's shore. One is chasing another with the claws of an angry crab.

"Get away from me!"

"This is karma," the other calls, kicking up lofts of sand in his wake.

In awe, you stare as the slightly shorter man catches up with the taller. Maybe two weeks will be more difficult than you thought.

ii.

A routine falls into place within the first few days. You awake before the crowd and sit on the dock for an hour. Maybe a little more, depending on the breeze. Then, you return to the cabin and sit on the porch swing, gently swinging your feet. Mingyu slips out into the humid air shortly after, his sweatpants bunched up by his ankles from sleeping.

"Do you wanna go swimming with us?" he will ask.

Your heart momentarily flutters before it dims to a burdening mass. "Maybe tomorrow."

He asks if you are sure, though he knows you will give the same nod, lips pressed into a polite smile.

You take to spending days alone, watching the clouds travel hastily across the blue sky and discreetly viewing the boys next door wreak havoc. It's calming, you remind yourself when you get the urge to accept Mingyu's offer, to be alone.

Each of your temporary roommates slips from the cabin in duos or trios. Soonyoung likes to rest an arm around whoever he's with, you notice, as though he's scared of losing them to an imaginary void. He always shoots you a smile before disappearing to wherever that day's activities bring.

On the fifth day, Yuna and Seokmin disappear on a hike with a whining Seungkwan on their tail. "It's so hot out here," he mutters as he passes you on the swing. Soonyoung and Mingyu rush to the water, shouting something about beating the mischievous boys in the cabin beside yours. Hair tied into a ponytail, Yeji steps onto the porch. She cups a 24-hour cooling bottle, taking sparing sips.

"Let's go to the lake," she sighs, sitting next to you. The teal outdoor pillows stutter beneath her weight before conforming to her shape.

You glance at her, though she doesn't turn to you. She speaks as though it's an order, not an offer.

Disturbed by your silence, she pushes, "C'mon, we've barely hung out at all. You're all solitude. We don't have to swim or anything. We can just sit on the sand."

A bitter sigh escapes your lips before you dredge into the cabin. Yeji resembles a home in this pool of unfamiliar faces, and you feel as though you can't deny her this. You pull on a bathing suit, despite her settled tune saying you didn't have to swim, and tug a pair of shorts on.

By the time you return to her, a green beach towel slung over your arm, she sits with her sunglasses veiling her eyes. Her head is upturned, looking at the birch porch ceiling. You hesitate, concerned that she might have fallen asleep, when her head twitches toward you. "Ready?" she asks, gathering her cup.

You slug towards the lake, basking in the sun's warm rays. It's not as humid as you thought it might be. A small, shaky breeze brushes against your bare shoulders.

"How's rooming with Soonyoung?" you finally say.

She sighs. "Terrible. He snores like crazy. I'm starting to regret giving you the single."

You chuckle, "It could be worse."

"How?"

"You could share a room with Soonyoung and Seungkwan."

"Oh, God," she shivers, despite the heat beaming down.

Sand invades beneath the comfort of your toes. Scalding heat shoots up your ankle as you hesitantly step. Purchasing cheap flip-flops was probably a mistake.

"Dude, I will drown you right now," Mingyu shouts.

Yeji leads you closer to them, stopping when only a couple feet barricade you from the water. She lays out her towel before tugging on her shorts' button. You follow her lead. Thoughtless, you step towards the dock, abandoning your belongings on your towel. The dock is about ten feet long, though its width bares close to six feet.

The water sways with each swing of Soonyoung's arm. You take a seat at the edge, dangling your feet until they graze the water. It's cool in contrast to the blistering grains. Mingyu pushes Soonyoung's head underwater with a broad grin. Water bubbles to the surface from Soonyoung's parted lips.

Shouts garnish the calm breeze. You glance over your shoulder. Yeji is laying flush against her towel, her eyes closed as she calmly begs for a tan. Behind her, a few running boys approach, some shedding their tops as they run.

"Minho! Give me my phone back!" a boy whines. You note that he's the same one who was being chased by a threatening crab. And the one he calls to, he glares over his shoulder with a shake of the head, is the chaser.

Minho turns back to his objective of the water before abruptly turning right, dragging the follower down the shore. His menacing laughs glide through the air, sending a sharp chill down your spine.

Begrudgingly, the chaser catches him, prying his phone away. In the distance, he looks like he presses a palm against Minho's shoulder, pushing him back. Their voices do not travel, but Minho's smile caught in the glinting sun does. You turn back to the water, whose dark surface returns the view of your eyes.

"Minho!" a voice calls behind you. You fight the temptation to turn.

"What?" the boy, presumably Minho, calls back.

You drown out the voices by slipping off the dock, plunging beneath the surface of the water. When you resurface, you brush back hairs glued against your forehead. Soonyoung points to you, begging you for a game of Chicken.

"There's only three of us," you point out, a tempting smile teasing your lips.

Mingyu glances to land, disregarding the background hassle of boys playing foot volleyball. "Yeji!" he calls.

Disinterested, her head bobs up. She pushes down her sunglasses, revealing a peek at her irises.

"Play Chicken with us!"

You can hear her sigh of defeat, pushing herself up from her towel and dropping her sunglasses. She flinches beneath the water, hands reaching to either elbow as she rubs warmth into them.

You watch her intently, until a boy peeks into your view from over her shoulder. Minho is juggling a ball with his feet. A steely grin catches his lips as his friends cheer him on. "10, 11, 12!" they chant.

You plug your nose before dropping your head underwater. When you resurface, the ball is lying against the sand, the boy's shoulders slumped. Hidden behind the fake pout, his lips remain curled.

iii.

It's weird, the way that boy takes the throne in your thoughts. He is merely a stranger from afar, who sparingly shot a glance when Mingyu shouted to him. Something about owing him for the previous night's game. His eyes, sparkling beneath the blazing sun, had resembled the water. Glinting and dark, leaving you curious and needy for more. Your thoughts brace the view of his bare chest, beads of sweat dripping from his chin as he concentrates on juggling the ball.

You have to get out of your head, you conclude.

Before the sun rises on the seventh day, you're up and ready. A small bookbag is secured around your shoulders, the contents harboring copious amounts of water and a few granola bars. You glance around the cabin—at the small leather couch constituting the living room and the oak table whose legs have fraying wood, as though a dog had thought it was a bone—before you decide it's safe to depart.

Today's destination requires you to pass your parasite's cabin. You offer a short glance through the clear panes, refocusing on the gravel path when you catch a glimpse at a sleeping boy on the couch, face illuminated by his phone. It's not the boy who haunts you, you lamentably realize.

Splashes of rose and barely visible blue tarnish the sky in a messy gradient. You stop before the overhead greenery obstructs your view. In the edge of the sky, nearly fallen on the horizon, is the moon bidding its final goodbye. "Take care," it says with a sulking wave, "I'm just past the wall."

Under the blistering glimpses of heat through the leaves, you admit that you're grateful to the shrouds of protection. Humidity snips at your skin, mimicking the crawl of an insect. You swipe at your neck, though nothing lies beneath your palm. Just the damp residue of sweat.

If someone had queried you on the matter a few months ago, you would argue that solo hiking is too dangerous to be denoted as fun. Now, within the gaze of harmless deer and the occasional rabbit, you chuckle. They peek out at you from rotting logs, blinking to each other as if to seek confirmation.

A tree twenty-or-so feet away sticks out among its comrades like a sore thumb. Lesions trail its stump, marking the initials of lovestruck couples.

"You turn left at the tree of love, you'll know which one," Yuna had distractedly instructed the night before, a melting ice cream cone dripping down her fingers.

Your footsteps drown out songbirds and assemble their own tune. Each crunch of a stick signifying a beat to your journey.

The path eventually fizzles into a sad patch of grass with a podium pegged into it. Okinawa Path, it reads. Marked in 1985 by James Okinawa. Dedicated to his wife, Jiyeon Okinawa.

The horizon is curved like a bubble when you look out onto it. Leaves sway with the breeze in mass, assembling a synchronous dance. You can see the faint blue of the lake, its color lightened in the distance. If you squint a little, you can see the small ant-like figures running along its shore. Resting your hands on the metal casing of the plaque, you lean over. In the gaps of trees, a straight fall. You sigh, taking a step back.

Your stomach grumbles. It only takes a moment of peace for your chest to plummet. All that remains in your bag is an array of wrappers, food long consumed, and water. You glance at your watch. 12:19. If you left now at a pace twice which you came, you might reach the cabin at three. Maybe four, depending on how the animal's eyes draw you.

You nod, taking a final glance at the foliage and red hummingbirds plucking into bark, before heading back.

iv.

The hike, though momentarily ridding your thoughts of the boy whose laugh cast goosebumps down your spine, is rendered useless when you see him on your way back. Stood at the lake's mouth, he stares onto the water. His friends are vacant, you note, as your gaze shoots around to corners they might hide. You don't notice your feet have forgotten their trail until a cat sniffs your shoes.

His fur is soft when you dip your fingers to scratch behind his ears. Large green eyes stare up at you, leaning into your touch. You tilt your head, mumbling, "Where's your collar, little guy?"

He purrs as he slowly allows his eyes to close. You look around, catching eyes on the boy at the shore. A glimpse of a smile nuzzles against his lips, leaving you to wonder what possibly brews inside his head.

Behind you, the sound of gravel crunching beneath shoes. You swing around, searching for their eyes. A boy gapes at you, apparently frightened by your sudden movement. Then, his wide eyes minimize when he sees the cat.

Your fingers still linger by his ears, though they stop movement. He leans up, brushing his chin against them. Trying to revive their life.

"Soonie?" he finally says, eyebrows furrowing. A deep line of confusion betrays the skin between them.

The cat meows, trotting to the boy. He leaves you in his dust, as though you hold no purpose now that you've halted the affection.

He gently picks up the cat, cradling him in his arms like a baby.

"He's yours?" you ask.

His eyes jump to you and he hastily shakes his head. "No. He's my friend's. He threatened that he wouldn't come if we didn't let him bring at least one of his cats."

You chuckle at the absurdity. "Really?"

He nods. "I'm Chan, by the way. I think we're in the cabin next to you."

With the assertion of his name, realization drowns over you. "Oh! Right! I knew you looked familiar," you laugh. "I'm Y/N."

"Nice to meet you," he smiles, a dimple emblazoning his cheek. His gaze draws to the shore, where one of his friends stands.

The cat paws at his chin, begging for his attention. He ignores it. Instead, he shouts, "Minho!"

When the boy turns to him, eyebrows raised in curiosity and lips pursed, he continues. "Your cat got out of the cabin!"

Minho allows his head to hang, a smile forming. He jogs up to you two, graciously accepting his child from the older. "At least I know you'll know to escape if you get catnapped," he whispers. Absently, he scratches beneath the cat's chin, travelling him into a blaze of content. He offers you a look, almost confused as to why you're here.

"This is Y/N," Chan intervenes, "She helped stop your cat."

Minho nods, lips parting in an acknowledging 'o.' He smiles. "Thank you. He wanders sometimes."

You nod. "No problem. He's cute."

"Takes after his owner," Minho jokes.

Chan rolls his eyes, smacking his shoulder. He turns to you, "He's Minho, by the way."

You fight the instinctive 'I know' to float from your tongue. In its place you glance back to your cabin, faintly imagining Seungkwan lighting the living room on fire because Soonyoung meandered a little too long. You turn back to them, "It was nice meeting you two, but I have to run."

They see you off with a wave, watching as you speed-walk to your cabin. Minho's eyes burn a hole in your tank top. Though, it feels like nothing in comparison to the blaze searing your chest.

v.

Sleep fills the corners of your eyes like grains of sand. Incessant to remain as they are, tempting you into the peaceful bounds of sleep. The pillows didn't help. Pressing flush against your back, they mirror the puffs of clouds.

The shouts at the table, however, keeps you landlocked.

"Seungkwan!" Yuna screams after the crash of water splattering against the laminate.

"What?" he calls, his voice muffled by the bathroom door.

"Can you bring me a towel when you're done in there?"

"Why?" There's a dullness to his tone, and you picture him standing in the mirror and tuning his hair to its perfect shape.

"Because I may have spilled, like, all the water left from that jug," she returns quietly.

The door swings open, bouncing against the copper doorstop with a loud trill. You flinch, eyes shooting open. His head peeks around the corner at the puddle residing. His lips part to expel a distressed sigh and a hand flies up to scratch the back of his neck. A quick moment passes where he disappears into the bathroom and returns with two towels. Wordlessly, as though they are now in agreement, he hands her one before kneeling down and sopping up the mess.

You sit up on the couch, watching.

Seungkwan's gaze swivels back to you. He offers a small, pleading small—one you've become familiar with this past week. "Hey, Y/N." Like a younger sibling about to beg a pardon from the oldest.

"What do you need?"

"Can you run up to the Camper's Corner and get us another jug?"

Mingyu, the bearer of the keys to the minivan, has long disappeared for an impromptu fishing trip. The others, though wielding slumped gazes as they passed, followed him to the boat suddenly tied to the dock.

Yuna perks up, as though your thoughts are being broadcasted, "You can take my bike!"

Orange sky solemnly greets you when you step out from the porch. Discarded against the dark logs of the cabin is Yuna's white bike. Various stickers plaster the warm metal; some worn to nothing while others closely tug at life. When you pull at the handles and drag the hidden parts of the bike from an overgrown shrub, you notice that there is a small basket. You have to fight off the laugh that threatens you when you think of that five gallon container spilling over the small wire basket.

The leaves sing in a shaking chorus with the graces of the wind. A musk of burning firewood stings your nose. You glance to the sky at your right (where the actual tent campers stay) and see a gray plume of smoke. A lingering taste of s'mores catches your tongue. The only thing to allow the displacement of the idea is the small store whose blinding fluorescents slip out into the street.

Camper's Corner is a privately owned chain who strategically places their stores in campgrounds. Though, with the large, white metal sign bearing a small green tent, it screams out of touch. But, at least they had good prices. And a very wide variety of bug repellant (homemade!).

"Is this all?" the lady at the counter, mid 20s with a few piercings lining her ears, inquires.

You nod, straightening a bill before slipping it across the counter. She dispenses the change into the palm of your hand. That's all it takes to dismiss her to the distractions of her magazine.

The weight of five gallons was underestimated in your mind. It drags your shoulder uncomfortably to one side, and you know it'll only supplement the soreness you'll gain from the hike. You bring a hand to the metal bar at the door, though it swings open before you can meet it.

Surprised brown eyes cross yours. For a moment, the weight diminishes, and you feel nothing but the swirl of butterflies voyaging your stomach.

His weight shifts backwards as he steps out of your way, pulling you back to reality. You hurriedly step out of the store, mumbling your thanks.

You start for the bike propped against the bike rack before he calls out, "Hey, wait for me."

By the time your eyes have swiveled back to him, his spot is blank. Tarnished by the slow swing of the door coming shut.

The jug approaches the ground and you stretch, rotating your arm in apologetic circles. How did you let yourself agree to this? Why couldn't Seungkwan find you intimidating enough to not even dare ask?

The boy returns, a plastic bag dangling from his wrist. Your eyes mingle for a second before you lean to reobtain the jug. His hand darts past your hesitant fingers, claiming it effortlessly. He merely says, "You look like you're struggling."

You grab at the handles of the bike. "Something like that."

With only the sounds of footsteps and swooshing leaves, you watch the front wheel turn. Around and around. No true objective.

"Thank you, again," he finally says over the tunes of cicadas.

Too wide eyes find him, and he clarifies, "For finding my cat."

"Oh!" you exclaim. "No problem, really."

You glance down to the bag, whose contents peek back in splitting blinks through the hole at the top. "What's in the bag?" you inquire.

His voice is drunken with the subtle hint of a laugh as he answers, "Soju. For Mingyu."

"Did he guilt you into buying him some?"

His head tips to one side. "Kinda. I lost a game."

You feel nosy digging, though you cannot find the will to stop. "What game?"

"Twister."

The thought of this boy, limbs contorted into painful tugs, draws a giggle to the air. "How bad did you lose?" you find yourself asking.

He exchanges the jug into the hand with the bag, quickly drawing his sleeve up to reveal a large purple mark, green flooding the outer corners. His eyes linger on it before lifting to meet yours. "My entire weight went right there."

Lips parted in a mass of shock and amusement, you stare. Words fail you, though a bubbly laugh draws to replace it. His lips curl upward, hesitant as though he's not sure he should be living this moment.

The laughs dawdle to a small lingering smile. Only a few cabins litter the edge of the visible road ahead, though the feeling of parting already greets you. Tugging at your chest like a pestering child.

"Do you-" he starts.

"Why are your-" you inadvertently interrupt.

"Sorry, you go first," you both say in unison.

His shoulder brushes against yours as a laugh greets the trees and bunnies hidden behind shrubs. "Seriously, you go first," he manages, bringing a wrist to his eye.

"Why are your friends so loud?" you inquire. Most nights, even some mornings, you can hear their loud cackles. Sometimes, you listened in on their conversations—not because you wanted to, but because it was hard not to.

"Are we loud?" his bewildered gaze falls on you. You look up to meet him halfway, nodding. He shrugs. "I didn't realize."

The shining light from the indoor side of your cabin greets you. Like a parent greeting their child after a first date with a new, alien smile.

He gently hands you the jug. A protective hand reaches for your shoulder when you allow it to drag your shoulder a little. "You got it?"

You nod with a smile.

He turns for his cabin, and you call out, "What about your question?"

The treads of his shoes stop against the gravel. He glances over his shoulder. "I'll just ask you tomorrow."

Tomorrow, you think. He expects to see you tomorrow. The thought warms your cheeks.

"Right. I'll see you tomorrow."

His shoes scrape against the gravel again, dismissing the conversation.

You start up the porch, hand closing around the doorknob when his voice pierces the night sky. "Sleep well! I'll try to get the boys to be a little quieter."

vi.

Mingyu nearly falls from shock when he steps out onto the porch the next morning. His acquainted question slips from his tongue with an uncertain drawl, as though he is unsure what language he speaks.

"Sure. I'll tag along," you smile up at him.

He slowly nods, bringing a disguised hand to the back of his neck before he pinches the skin. Nope. Not a dream.

In thirty minutes he returns with a pink-faced Soonyoung, shirts discarded and three towels. Soonyoung hands you yours as he scans your body. He hadn't believed Mingyu, that newfound glimmer shining across your skin, but seeing it firsthand leaves him speechless.

The lake water is chilled, the sun precariously hidden behind a large white cloud. Mingyu shrieks at its touch, drawing back to the sand. Soonyoung stares at him over his shoulder, muttering, "Pussy."

Your focus reigns on the cabin beside yours. Its porch is vacant. Not even a single paw crosses it.

His promise had proven effective, for after eleven o'clock the cabin seemed muted. As if a young child had stumbled across a remote, carelessly slamming the buttons without being aware of their meaning. It brought a quick, heart-fluttering smile to your face before you pressed your cheek against the pillow and fell asleep.

Mingyu, irritated with your withdrawal from their conversation about snails, waves a hand before your eyes. When all he receives is a lost, empty stare with that absent smile, he follows your gaze. All the way up the small hill and to the cabin harboring eight boys.

He gasps, dragging a palm to your shoulder and shaking you. "Y/N," he repeats.

"What?" Soonyoung asks, trying to break into Mingyu's line of sight.

You fall back into reality, looking between them. You hum, raising your eyebrows curiously.

Mingyu stares at you with parted lips, hand grown limp on your shoulder. "Why are you staring at the enemy's house?"

"Enemy?" you ask.

"Enemy?" Soonyoung repeats.

Behind Mingyu, a boy scales down the small hill. His appearance brings a spark to your chest, alighting all your muscles. Burning your entire body.

The sun peeks out from a cloud.

Mingyu catches the sparkle in your eyes. The sudden smile tracing your lips. He glances over his shoulder.

"Minho!" Soonyoung calls, suspending a high hand to wave at him.

He waves back. His white shirt sparkles in the sunlight.

When he reaches you, he hands Mingyu the small plastic bag from the previous night. "Here. Don't think I forgot."

Pink blazes the boy's cheeks as he accepts the bag. He peeks inside.

You nudge his shoulder, "Is that why he was an enemy?"

"'Cos you thought he wouldn't hold up his end of the deal? Mingyu, you're unbelievable," Soonyoung finishes, shaking his head. He turns back to the lake, burying his feet beneath the water.

Shyly, Mingyu mumbles, "I'll be back."

He climbs the hill, disappearing into your cabin.

Minho expels a laugh. "He's funny."

He's still staring at the guarding cabin door. A smile peeks on his lips, leaving you to wonder again what he thinks of in that pretty head. Suddenly, his eyes flit to you. "Do you wanna go for a walk?"

You glance down at your bikini and cheap flip-flops. "I'm not really dressed for a-"

"You can borrow some of my clothes, if you don't wanna go into your cabin," he interrupts.

You wonder what he smells like up close. In the breeze, you had caught the brief scent of sandalwood and tea tree.

Behind you, Soonyoung digs his heel into the sand. "Go with him. Don't overthink it."

And so, taking the granted permission and running with it, you follow Minho up the hill. You lean towards his cabin, quickly mentioning, "I think Yeji and Seungkwan are still sleeping. I don't wanna disturb them."

He simply nods, guiding the way. Soonie waits at the door and tries to sneak out through the gap. Minho presses the heel of his foot against the cat's chest, pushing him back in. The cabin is quiet, save for the distant running of water. He guides you down the hall to his shared room. In the top bunk, a boy lays with his body facing the wall. Covers are drawn to his chin, shielding his identity further.

Minho offers a plain white tee similar to his—though his is emblazoned with the outline of a peace sign—and black joggers. Thankfully accustomed with a drawstring. Just as you had imagined, when you tugged the shirt over your head, it smelled woodsy. It hugs your skin, like the comfort of a flickering candle in a dimly lit room.

By the time you sneak back into the main area of the cabin, a boy leans against the kitchen counter, phone in hand. He glances up, blinking harshly when he spots you in Minho's clothes. "You have a girlfriend?" he asks, tipping his head.

Minho's only response is a scoff before he slips back into the great outdoors. You hold the other boy's gaze for a moment before following Minho quietly.

He guides you in the way of the Camper's Corner, though he takes a sharp left where you would normally keep straight. It's an unmarked path. He glances over his shoulder, as though to assert you're following.

"It's not too bad of a walk," he mentions, glancing down to your flip-flops.

After only a couple more feet, the fast splashing of water summons your ears. It pulls your gaze into its sourcing direction. A narrow creek stares back, water plummeting across sharp peaks of rocks. You gasp.

Minho turns to you, smiling when he spots the glimmer in your eyes. Similar to the one that the sun casts on the water.

He kneels close to the mud, plucking a small shell. He offers it to you. The tips of your fingers graze the smooth ridges. On the underside, little legs squirm.

"It's a hermit crab," he says.

"I know," you laugh, looking up to him.

He shrugs, "I had to tell Changbin what it was."

You stare at him, the small crab suddenly forgotten. He nods, as though to say 'I know, right?'

You gently return the hermit crab to its niche. Minho suddenly grabs your hand, pulling you back to the main road. His palm feels awkward in yours beneath the sun. Yet still, you dread the moment when it will shed itself away.

"Hey," you say. He stops, looking over his shoulder with pouty lips. "What did you want to ask me?"

The hint of a grin flashes across his lips, shining like the sun, as he shakes his head. "I already got the answer."

He turns back to the road, continuing to tug at your hand. The sound of his slides scraping against the gravel reminds you of last night.

"What was the question though?"

His grip tightens and he chuckles. "You're persistent."

"I'm just curious," you defend, inching to tug a little back on his hand.

He stops abruptly. You nearly crash into his back. He turns around to you, slipping his hand away from yours and placing it on your cheek.

You wonder if he can hear your heartbeat. Or feel the warmth against your cheek.

His eyes are barren. For a moment, you're scared he might shun you away. Until his eyes crinkle and his teeth show, lips curled in a broad grin. "You should keep those clothes," he says, moving his hand slightly to catch a wandering strand of hair. He tucks it behind your ear.

"Why?" you manage to say through the pebble strangling your throat.

"You look cute in them."

Whatever breath you managed to withhold evacuates your lungs. You're not sure if it's the lack of oxygen, but you think he's leaning a little closer.

His hesitant breath tickles your lips and you meet him at the finish line. His other hand comes to cup your cheek as he kisses you. Your missing breath is found when his tongue trails across your bottom lip.

When he pulls away, he blinks as though he has returned from a blackout. Then, a chuckle slips past his lips. You stare at him, watching as the corners of his mouth upturn.

He grabs at your hand, pulling you up the road and back to the cabins. All the way, your tongue wettens your lips to revive his taste. You bite back smiles, grateful he cannot see you.

You feel like a schoolgirl again, calm and worryless.

vii.

He holds your hand as you step off the dock. The boat trembles beneath your leg and his grip tightens. "I got you," he reassures.

You sit opposite him as he tugs the oars back. The water winks up at you in fits of sparkling sunshine.

His invite had come like a surprise, preceded by the knock on the cabin. Yeji had answered, and before he even had time to ask for you, you were there. Peeking over her shoulder like an all too curious sibling. Normally, back at the apartment, life would play out like this. Someone would arrive at your doorstep, flowers in hand and ready to steal Yeji away on a date.

Oh, how the tables have turned.

So now, you sit in a boat, slightly seasick until Minho stops pushing the oars under the water. Only the quiver of the lake keeps you with a minuscule motion.

"I didn't really plan this far ahead," he says, looking back to the distant shore. On the dock, he notes, a boy stands. Then, running up from behind, he is pushed into the water. Impact splashing back at the one who remains standing.

He glances back to you, now having missed your words. "Sorry, what'd you say?"

"I said plans are overrated," you repeat.

A smile crosses his lips, somewhat feeling like a fond glimmer of nostalgia. You will chase after that smile, begging for the faint orange of this golden hour.

He leans forward abruptly, pressing his lips to yours. You smile into the kiss. The strings of his hoodie tickle your hand as you slowly bring your palm to his cheek.

The kiss brings that golden hour into clarity with pulsing fits of orange like a heartbeat.

When he pulls away, bottom lip slightly swollen, he pulls his sleeves over his hands as he glances down to the water. He will not admit what is on his mind, though the peek of his tongue slipping over his lips tells you all you need to know.

"What's your favorite color?" you inquire casually, drawing his eyes back to you.

"Mint," he quickly answers.

You learn that he cannot swim, despite his urgency to drag you out onto the lake, and that he's an only child. He just graduated college with a degree in Computer Science, though he doesn't know what he wants to do yet. Though, he makes it clear that he will never work retail. He has two other cats who were left back home because his friends had whined enough about bringing Soonie.

You find yourself smiling as he tells you stories from his former years. How he nearly flunked his Statistics exam because he accidentally went to the wrong class for half the semester (he couldn't explain how he didn't realize because your laughs suffocated his thoughts). How his friends rely on him for certain things. How he simply lives to live.

His lips find yours again after he tells you that he has a talent for catching people off guard. You flinch a little, though laugh.

As he pulls away, his smile reaches his eyes and you catch the glimmer of comfort sprouting in your chest.

His fingertips find the oars again when a cloud threatens the sun. It dims the lake, stealing the sparkle from the water.

A sigh slips past your lips as you watch the clouds turn. Vacation ends in four days, ready to drag you back to the needy college life. You wonder if Minho will keep in touch. Certainly, you remind yourself, he will. After all, you both live in the same city, so seeing each other shouldn't be a problem.

"What're you thinking about?" Minho asks as he's reaching for the rope to secure the boat to its dock.

His cologne lingers close as he leans over you. A hug-like comfort. You shake your head when he glances down at you. "Nothing."

viii.

A large pizza sits in the center of the table, steam rising from the center. Seungkwan leans over and grabs another piece.

"Gosh, we should've ordered another one," Seokmin sighs, glancing at the two empty boxes at the counter.

Yeji shakes her head, "Maybe if you guys didn't eat so much."

You smile, leaning back in your chair to watch this unfold. Seungkwan defensively waves his hand as he bites. Soonyoung chugs water to drown his words.

Mingyu, though, stares at you. His arms are crossed against his wide chest. He leans

forward, resting them on the table. The argument fizzles, leaving the elephant in the room to be addressed.

"Mingyu, why are you staring at me like that?" you laugh.

"Why are you so lighthearted? What did Minho do to you? Did he inject you with something?"

You blink, waiting for his questions to process. "I'm just in a good mood, I guess."

"Who's Minho?" Yuna returns from the bathroom, reclaiming her seat beside Yeji.

"One of the neighbor guys. He's really cool, actually," Soonyoung informs.

Mingyu shoots him a glare, though before he can speak, Seokmin has begun, "Yeah, you have been kinda weird today, Y/N."

You shrug, shyly looking down at your sweatpants that weren't technically yours. Minho had playfully pushed you into the cabin when you had offered to return them after your lake date. His smile had blazed brighter than the sun. Warmer than the sun. You smile at the close memory.

"See?" Mingyu points accusingly.

"I think you're overreacting," Soonyoung comments, grabbing the abandoned crust from Seungkwan's plate.

Yeji nods, taking a sip from her water before adding, "Just let her have her last summer love."

Mingyu huffs, leaning back into his chair. "I don't like him."

"Too bad," Seungkwan nudges him with a teasing smile.

Nighttime falls after a tense couple rounds of Mafia. Each time, Mingyu would insist voting you off, citing that you were suspicious and simply had to be the Mafia. Even when you were the nurse. Or the cop. You hadn't gotten the mafia card at all.

Your sheets are cold when you climb into them. And though Mr. Sandman has already dragged your eyes to a laze, you cannot find dreamland. Instead, you're left to listen to the night. Distant shouts from the neighboring cabin. You smile, wondering what Minho is doing.

A huff slips from your lips and an open palm rushes to your forehead. How have you allowed yourself to fall this deep? Maybe Mingyu's right. Maybe you should take a step back. Yet still, the imprint of his lips against yours haunts you with the pull at your heart.

You roll over, tugging your covers to your chin. Like the boy in Minho's room.

A hollow noise echoes throughout your ears. It travels upward, like your window being pulled. You flinch, though fight it off. It's nothing, you tell yourself. Just the wind. Or a deer. Or maybe it's a little rabbit.

But then, your heart stops beating when the rustic-style comforter pulls away from you.

Instinctively, you shoot up, swinging your arms. One connects with the heavy meat of a human. It heaves, doubling over in pain.

You tremble, heart shattering against your ribcage. Though, you gain enough strength to reach for the lamp, pulling down on the string.

A boy is balled up on the floor, clutching at his ribs. He glances up at you, squinting beneath the sudden light.

"Minho? What are you doing here?" you whisper. You realize you're in his shirt. And his sweatpants. They're comfy, okay?

He pulls himself up to sit at the foot of your bed, still holding his side. "You have got a strong arm," he gasps for air.

"What are you doing here?" you repeat. At the loud, though distant, chant of someone's name, you add, "Shouldn't you be with your friends?"

He shakes his head. The tips of his fingers pull at the hem of his shirt to reveal his chest. A slim red mark has already formed. He drops the cloth, glancing back to you, "I wanted to see you. You're more fun than they are."

You fight a smile. "You barely know me."

He shrugs. "So?"

You look down at your lap sheepishly. "I'm sorry for hitting you so hard."

"Don't be," he reaches for your hand, pressing your fingers against his momentarily and intertwining them. "I probably should've had a better gameplan."

You can't exactly disagree with that.

"Do you mind if I stay here tonight?" he asks, glancing back out into the open window.

"No, but can you not go home or something?"

He turns back to you, lips slightly pursed. "I'm getting tired of being with them. They're kinda draining."

You know the feeling, thinking of Seungkwan and Soonyoung's full-fleshed arguments that seem to have a daily timer of 7 P.M.

And so he kicks his shoes off and curls up next to you before you turn off the light. His arm curls around you as he sighs. His breath tickles your skin, flaring small goosebumps.

You rest your ear against his chest, hearing out for the small thumps of his heart. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

"You never told me the question," you say.

"It's not important anymore," he replies, pulling you a little closer.

Crickets swell in the silence that follows. His chest is warm, a comforting contrast to the earlier sheets. Yet still, you feel yourself asking, "Don't you think we're going too fast?"

And he simply responds, "You can never feel like you're moving too fast if you're constantly running out of time."

You hum. A response curls at your tongue, though your lips fail to move.

When you return to consciousness, the warm pillow you had rested upon is gone. The only evidence he was ever even there is the window, still open, and the wrinkles in the sheets.

ix.

He is not at the lake. He is not at the hidden creek. Maybe he's on a hike, you think. But as you pass his cabin and peek inside, your stomach drops.

The place is pristine, as though eight young men had never even stepped foot inside. You take a peek inside, scanning through all of the rooms. Nothing. Bare beds and bare halls.

His shirt itches against your skin. Not a single goodbye. Pricks of something volatile poke your skin as you realize you have nothing to contact him by. No phone number. No cringy Snapchat username he made when he was thirteen. Nothing.

You drag your feet back to your cabin, passing Seungkwan huddled over a bowl of oatmeal. His greeting distantly floats through your ears, though you fail to process it.

When you fall into your bed, sheets still indented by his figure, a hot tear scales your face. His scent is all around you, like a taunting lullaby. You jolt up, tearing the shirt off of you and throwing it as hard as you can. It caves against the wall, slipping down silently.

You pull over a different, non-Minho shirt and rest back against the mattress. Though still, he remains.

A sob clogs your throat. You want to punch a pillow. Or a wall. Or him. No, you wouldn't punch him. You cannot even find it in you to direct your anger at him. Instead, you decide, you must have done something wrong. Maybe you whispered something in your sleep that infuriated him. Maybe-

A soft knock at your door.

"I'm sorry," you sob, burying your face in the pillow as you clutch the sheets.

Beside you, the bed dips beneath someone's weight. A hand falls against your back, its fingertips tapping lightly.

You expect it to be Yeji. Or Yuna. But instead, when you look, it's Mingyu. His face is blank, not even a trace of an "I told you so" glazing it. Instead, his eyes are covered with a film of pity.

"Did you know?" you manage through the tears.

Slowly, he nods. "I'm sorry."

You shake your head. "It's not your fault."

He pulls you into a hug, and you're glad that his scent does not resemble Minho's. Mingyu smells only like cotton. Freshly washed cotton.

"He's a dick, not telling you he was leaving," he says, drawing a hand up to your head.

Seungkwan's voice drenches the room with bitterness. "Who the fuck hurt you? I will kill-"

Mingyu looks back at the boy standing in the doorway. He shakes his head, beckoning the boy to leave. And he does.

You're grateful for Mingyu.

x.

Only three days remain in your vacation, yet each second is more brutal than the last. Dried tears glue strands of hair to your cheeks. At night, Mingyu comes in and lays with you, rubbing small circles into your back as he tries to make you laugh. Yeji stands in the doorway, confused arms crossed against her chest.

The day before you leave, Yeji stops at your bedside and whispers. "We can leave today."

You look up to her, shaking your head slightly. That's all the energy you have to do. Your voice is a croaking mess when you bring yourself to say, "Don't let me ruin your fun, please."

The final day, as set aside on the drive here, is a day of fun. Hiking and swimming and laughter. Though you remain in bed, sheets pulled to your chin as your fingertip rubs small laps along your lips.

When Seokmin sneaks into your room at dinnertime, a small slice of pizza resting on a paper plate, he says, "You deserve better than him."

You nod. But you're not sure you believe him.

You find yourself wondering what he did in the car ride home. What he's doing now. If his cats are happy to all be together again. You wish that you could have seen Soonie's little smile again. Or even seen Minho's fatherly intuitions with him for even an extra split second.

A fingertip rests on your bottom lip. The car is silent, save the low hum of the radio. Disguised by his sunglasses, it appears that Mingyu's eyes are glued to the road at all times. Though he steals a parental glance in the rearview every few seconds, as if to check you haven't withered away.

Even when Seungkwan coughs, Soonyoung bites his tongue. They do not argue the whole way.

When Mingyu arrives outside your apartment complex, you gather your things and get out of the minivan. Its familiar blue paint stings your eyes with tears. You look back into the car before saying with a forced smile, "Thank you, guys."

xi.

Summer dissipates with green fading to amber. You look at the golden leaves scattering the ground of the campus. Minho's smile flashes in front of your eyes, and you shake it away. A parasite.

You jog to class, sparingly glancing at your watch to count each minute you're late. At five past eight you get to the lecture hall. A quiet apology slips past your lips until you climb the stairs to the back.

For a history class, the seats are rather full. You sit at the end of the second to last row, beside a tanned boy with light brown hair and round glasses. His eyes stick on you a little too long, burning your skin.

Professor Nam discusses the syllabus rather quickly, his words failing to succumb to first-day stutters. His sudden clap makes you flinch, and his voice booms all the way back to you. "That's it. Scan the first chapter to familiarize yourself with the material. You're free to go."

You gather your things and are ready to descend the stairs when the boy beside you calls, "Wait!"

You glance back at him and a flash of familiarity blankets him. His words return to you before you can exactly place him. You have a girlfriend?

"Are you Y/N?" he asks.

Pain shoots through your chest and you take a wary step backwards.

He continues, quickly apologizing, "Sorry to catch you off guard like this. I'm Seungmin."

He proffers his hand. You take it. "Nice to meet you," you manage.

"You too," he smiles. Though, to you, all he says is 'You're the girl he ditched?'

You cannot find the words to form a question, though he beats you to it. He seems to do that, you note.

"What happened with you and Minho?"

Then, when he catches the sparkle of tears glazing your eyes he frantically adds, "If you're comfortable with telling me."

You look down at your shoes, remembering the days of sunshine that quickly turned to cloudy messes. "I don't know, really."

"He was a mess after we left, but he wouldn't tell us anything that happened," Seungmin rambles.

Your eyes shoot back to him. A hoarse laugh grabs your words, "He was a mess?"

Confused, he hesitantly nods.

"He didn't tell me you guys were leaving," you announce, the words stinging you all over again. "And he never left me anything to contact him with. I thought I did something wrong. I probably did."

You remember the white shirt stuffed into your closet, a pair of sweatpants crumbled beneath it. His scent is faintly attached to the fibers. Though, maybe, it's just your imagination.

Seungmin's eyes soften. "I'm sorry. You probably didn't do anything. He wouldn't react the way he did if you had. He's just stupid."

You dismiss yourself, aiding the excuse that you're meeting with a friend for coffee and he understands. Seungmin watches as you leave the lecture hall, a soft sigh tickling his lips.

When you get back to the apartment (not having another class until noon) you cry. Hot tears that irritate your skin. You pull out the tee shirt and hug it close. And the words, again, fall from your lips like a mantra. "I'm sorry."

xii.

Seungmin asks you to coffee a week later, a hint of something unfamiliar in his eye. You agree, though only under the pretense that he pays.

The coffee shop by the campus is riddled with already tired students and rushed projects. Seungmin sits by the window. An iced americano is cupped in his hand and he absentmindedly sips it, eyes over at a set of baristas scrambling to fulfill orders. His gaze breaks, falling onto you and he waves.

"Did I keep you waiting long?" you ask as you pull yourself onto the stool.

He shakes his head, gently setting the sweating coffee on a napkin. "No, I just got here."

He glances back to an aproned barista, who anxiously stares back. His eyes are apprehensive, tinged with a glimmer of something fierce. Seungmin nudges your hand, pointing at the boy.

You feel your heart stop beating. You might be leaning forward and passing out. You might be dying. But one thing's for sure, the boy who is currently holding your eyes makes you blister with heat and blur at the eyes. He stares with a freezing gaze that shoots goosebumps all along your skin.

And then he offers a hint of a smile that warms your body like a blanket. He glances to a coworker, inaudibly says something, and removes his apron. He tosses it into a small blue basket before rushing over. Seungmin gives up his seat.

Minho smacks the back of his head. "Thanks for drinking all of my americano."

"Shouldn't have left it there," Seungmin shrugs before starting towards the exit.

At the door, he turns back and smiles, "Have a good talk!"

You dumbfoundedly watch as Minho lifts himself to the stool. He rests interlocked hands on the table, creating a cage around his half-empty americano. "I'm sorry," he says.

"For what?" you look at him like a lost puppy. His heart softens and the guilt overrides him.

"Leaving," he glances outside, down the street where Seungmin crosses.

You somehow manage to keep looking at him. "Was it something I did?"

"No," he instantly turns back to you. "It was me."

"That's what everyone says," you fight a hurt chuckle. "You can tell me, really. It won't hurt."

And with a forced reassuring smile, you look deep into his eyes.

He shakes his head. "No really, it was me. I was confused and terrible at facing what I was feeling. I didn't want to admit that constantly wanting to kiss someone was more than friendly."

"I take it you still are," you mention. "Considering Seungmin didn't even know."

His head twitches in a nod. "Something like that."

A silence lies over you, though it's unlike the one you held when you walked back from the Camper's Corner. This one seems menacing. As though it has the power to destroy everything.

He suddenly grabs your hand and plays with your fingertips. He does not know the number of times you have pressed them to your lips—sixty-two. He does not know the days you spent staring at your ceiling, eyes burning from spilling insufficient tears. He does not know that you halted communication with everyone, save Yeji, from the trip because they reminded you too much of him. Yet still, his touch cascades your body with heat, as though none of that happened.

"You really don't have to accept this, but I would like to make it up to you."

Your heart catches in your throat and it echoes its thumps throughout your entire body. "Are you asking me on a date?"

Hesitantly, he nods. "I think so."

Your smile burns a whole through his chest. You ask innocently, eyebrows raised with joy, "Can I come see your cats?"

He laughs. "You'd have to meet my mom 'cos they live with her. My apartment complex doesn't allow pets."

"Second date, then."

"You already think you wanna go on a second date with me?" Minho grins, leaning a little closer.

You blush, shaking your head.

You stare into his eyes and see a tiny reflection of yourself. Behind that, you see remorse. Lost time. He's going to make up for it. That's a promise, even if it's not verbal.

xiii.

His laugh bubbles throughout the small room like the sizzle of soda. He pulls the cat close to him, cradling him like a baby. You watch as the cat paws at his chin.

He looks up at you, "I think he likes me."

You smile as he glances back to the cat. He nestles his fingers beneath the cat's chin and gently scratches.

Upon the idea of coming to a cat cafe, he was hesitant. "They might smell Soonie or something," he had pouted.

"It'll be fine," you had promised, taking his hand. They were warm, you recall, like those last days of summer.

And now here you sit, perched atop a chair while Minho rolls around with the cats. All swarming him like he carries a cat-summoning device. His smile is radiant against the sea of calico and tabby.

A flutter ravages in your chest when his eyes find yours. "Why are you staring at me like that?" he laughs.

"Like what?"

"You just look," he thinks. "I can't explain it."

A smile tugs at the corners of your lips. "Cat got your tongue?"

He delivers a wry laugh, returning his attention to the tabby who paws at his chin.

You watch as he fights the crowd to sit up. One immediately climbs upon his shoulder, reaching up to dig its paws in his hair. He gently pulls it off of him, resting it on the plush rug. He returns to his spot aside from you, bringing the straw of his iced americano to his lips.

"I feel bad," he finally says, curiously glancing down to the tugging sensation against the cuff of his sweatpants.

"Why?" you ask, resting your forearms on the table.

He looks back to you. "Because this is our first real date and we're in a place aimed for my interest. I'm supposed to be the one making things up to you, not the other way around."

You fight a laugh. "You know I like cats too, you know?"

"Yeah, but," he hesitates. "they're not really paying attention to you."

You shrug. "That's fine. Watching you interact with them is enough."

He smirks, "So you're saying you like watching me?"

"Interact with cats, yes," you confirm.

A hand grabs yours as he leans across the table to kiss you. His lips taste just like you remember—those sixty-two times did not go to waste. They're soft and taste vaguely of his coffee addiction. Back in summer, they had tasted like faint watermelon. Sometimes strawberries.

Abruptly, he pulls away. "Wait, I didn't ask if I could kiss you, I'm so sorry."

"You didn't ask me the first time you kissed me."

He squints, "Really?"

You nod, a shadow of a laugh tumbling over your lips.

He glances out the window, a look of reliving riddling his features. Eyebrows knitted together. Lips fallen agape. Finally, he looks back to you. "I don't remember not asking."

"Do you remember asking?" you tease, biting your straw between smiling teeth.

"Touche. But that's under different circumstances than right now. I'm supposed to be regaining your trust, not spontaneously kissing you."

You cock your head at him. "In summer, we barely knew each other and you were sneaking into my cabin to sleep in the same bed as me. How is that much different from randomly kissing me?"

He shyly brings his straw to his lips again, taking a long sip that extends the silence. "Summer was different," he finally says.

"Elaborate on that for me, please."

He sighs, flecks of red darting across his cheeks. He looks like he's about to give a presentation for a class he's failing. "Summer Minho," he finally begins, "was insanely stupid."

And then, his words fall. Another silence, save a couple cats clawing at a scratching post.

"And?" you urge him to continue.

He pouts. "I wasted so much time. We could've done this whole dating thing months ago, but because I wanted to run away from those scary feelings, we're here."

Then, in your stunned silence, he adds, "I wish I could go back and force myself to stick around. Or at least leave you a note. I thought about doing that, you know."

You sigh. "You can't change the past."

He lamentably nods, looking down at a sleeping cat to disguise the film blurring his vision.

"So let's make up for lost time," you declare, standing up.

He looks at you confusedly. "What?" he croaks.

"Minho," you offer your hand. Hesitantly he takes it, standing too. You continue, "I don't think I was ever really mad at you. I focused all of the blame on myself. So please, kiss me whenever. Show up at my doorstep at three in the morning because one of the boys got on your nerves. I don't care. I just want to be with you."

A small smile twitches as a lonesome tear slips down his cheek. He pulls you into his chest. The vibration of his laugh shakes against your ear as he whispers, "You're gonna regret saying that part about me showing up at your doorstep."

You laugh and shake your head, though deep down you know he's probably right.

xiv.

Lee Minho is a piece of work. Having the nerve to show up at your apartment while the world is shaking with thunder. His hair is soaking wet, as are his clothes. Though, kept dry, is the brown bag of Chinese food he shoved beneath his hoodie.

He laughs through shivers when you open the door, alternatively drenched with the desire for sleep.

"Did I wake you?" he asks, teeth chattering.

Through squinted eyes, you slowly nod, stepping out of the way to let him in. So tired, you note, that you didn't even bring him a towel before he enters the apartment. Small droplets of water quiver at his movement, pooling beside your doormat.

"Do you still have those clothes I lent you?" he shouts when you retreat back to your room.

A response is unnecessary, for you're already bringing them to him. White tee and black sweatpants, neatly folded. His cologne officially disappeared in the last wash, subtly replaced with your laundry detergent and Yeji's rose perfume.

He steps into your bathroom, quickly asking where your towels are. You point to the small bamboo cabinet Yeji insisted on buying the week before.

You glance at the green digits atop the stove. 12:56 A.M. A wry laugh clogs your throat as you suddenly remember what you had told him two weeks ago on your first date. Though, this begs the question: do you regret telling him that? No, actually. Because now, you will finally be able to fall asleep in his arms again. Plus, he brought you food for unintentional compensation of waking you. That's commendable.

He returns from the bathroom, his new clothes lay over dry skin. Yet, his hair is still damp and sticking every which way. He vehemently shakes his head like a wet dog, sending a few droplets to brush your skin.

He tugs on the top of his shirt, bringing it across his forehead to wipe at straying rain.

Then, he stands still. A simper creeps across his face and he approaches you, entrapping you in his arms. Gently, he sways you, mimicking the boat on the lake. "Sorry for showing up unexpectedly. Jisung kicked me out."

You fight his grip to look up at him. "Why?"

"I may have joked about kidnapping the cats and bringing them to our apartment."

"Was it really a joke?" you inquire.

He laughs. "No."

You press your ear against his collarbone, silently sighing. A content smile crosses your lips as you close your eyes.

xv.

A distant, long forgotten episode of Haikyuu! hums on the TV. Minho's forehead is pressed against your shoulder and his light snores usurp the quiet argument between Hinata and Kageyama. Minho's arms have gone limp around your waist, loosened by the depths of slumber.

You turn in his arms and stare at the slope of his nose. The way his lips are barely parted. The way his eyelashes tickle against his cheeks. His hair has long since dried, though frizz defies its normal shape. You smile before pressing a gentle kiss to the tip of his nose.

In your younger years you had imagined that your final year of college would be tinged with the weight of growing old. Now, every time you're with Minho—in his arms or merely in his presence—you're relieved of all of the nonsense adulthood brings. No stress. Just simply living. It's like a constant adventure with him.

His eyes peek through heavy lids and he tips his head back a little, tapping the back of the couch. In a drowsy voice, he mutters, "Stop watching me sleep, weirdo."

You giggle. "You were snoring."

He shuts his eyes again, humming as he returns his head to the pillow. Barely audible, he whispers, "I love you."

A loud thump echoes in your ears before a smile creeps up to your lips. "I love you too."

In the morning, he will deny this ever happening. Yet still, you will smile and go along with it. "Maybe I was imagining it," you will say with a shrug before disappearing to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. In your wake, he will whisper those three words again, and you will pretend you hadn't heard. Though a smile will fall on your lips when you return to him, two mugs cozied in your hands.

Now, you know that it's nearing four in the morning, and though your tiredness has long fled, you rest your forehead against his and shut your eyes. Lee Minho loves you, even if he denies saying it in his slumber-drunk world. He wants you to stay. And in return, he will stick by your side. Even when you forget Dori's birthday.

[thisishomenicktoonsau]

Just A Typical Morning

Sophie is just the typical 10-year-old girl. Except for her family life where she grows up in a foster home with a mom, a dad, 15 older siblings, six younger siblings, and several pets. Yup. Definitely typical. 

Hi, whoever is reading this. My name is Sophie Hathaway and this is my life. I am 10 years old and just moved to a new school. I’m not like other kids my age. I mean I go to school, hang out with my friends after school, I draw for competitions, I like soccer and video games but I also like stuffed animals and musicals. So I would say that I’m mostly normal.

Sophie was looking in a mirror getting ready for school in her tiny closet bedroom. She was dressed in a white tank top, a red plaid flannel shirt, jean leggings, and black converse. She tied her long curly ebony hair in a ponytail before putting her signature dark blue messenger hat on and turned to her white Maine Coon cat. “Well, Lion? What do you think?” Lion responded by lazily sprawling out on one of her shirts. Sophie rolled her midnight blue eyes and said “Thanks for the input Lion. Seriously that helps so much.” The moment Lion started to chew on the shirt she yanked it out from under him. Lion started to meow loudly in annoyance. Sophie smirked and said, “Yeah love you too bud.” She ruffled his fur and left her room her door ajar so Lion could wander in and out.  

The only way I’m not normal is family wise. I live in a foster home with several other kids. I’ve lived here since I was six years old and grew up in the younger half of the family. Lion came with me because he’s been my cat since I was five though he was my original mother’s cat. I kind of have learned to thrive in chaotic situations after living here for so long.

Sophie was looking for her backpack for school. She didn’t know why it wasn’t in her room with all her other things but she could chalk that up to it getting mixed up with some other moving boxes. She looked in the closest room to her own bedroom, being her brothers Timmy and Snap’s room, and saw a familiar bag strap sticking out from under the blue bed while Timmy’s Golden Retriever puppy, Sparky, was lying on the bed. She grabbed it and pulled it out from under the bed. “Timmy Turner! Can you please explain what MY backpack was doing under YOUR bed?!” Sophie yelled.

A brown haired, blue eyed, buck-toothed boy poked his head into the room. “I needed crayons for my comic book and you have the best crayons in the house,” Timmy explained like it was obvious.

This is Timothy Turner or “Timmy” for short. He’s older than me by a few months and has been here longer than any of us. See when he was two, our foster parents moved next door and noticed something not so good. His real parents were neglecting him and Timmy had a caretaker that was abusing him. So Cosmo and Wanda, who are our parents, did what was best and called social services on them. Cosmo and Wanda eventually adopted Timmy as their son and the rest is pretty much history. The weird thing about this story though is that we think Timmy may have had a twin sibling. Keyword: Think. There were two cribs in the house although since there wasn’t any record of Timmy’s birth and no other evidence that there was another baby in the house, it’s just theory for now. Sparky was Timmy’s tenth birthday present. Mom and Dad got him in March so he’s just a puppy.

Timmy acts like what you think a “typical” ten-year-old boy is. He likes gross things like dead frogs and literally has no idea how girls work to point I’m pretty sure he thinks females have a whole different language. He can be a selfish jerk sometimes but he can be a good brother too. We play video games together a lot and he once told I’m the sister he didn’t know he could wish for.

“Dude. Stop stealing my crayons!” Sophie said rolling her eyes.

“Then buy me some fancy ones like yours.”

“Right. Like I have my own money. We are literally both 10.” Sophie said deadpanned. Sophie was checking her box for missing crayons. Okay, everything seemed in order except. Hang on. Something was wrong with her blues. “Slate, Sky, Navy, Indigo, Cobalt, Teal, Ocean, Peacock, Azure, Cerulean, Lapis, Spruce, Stone, Aegean, Berry, Denim, Admiral, Sapphire, Arctic…. Hey. Where’s my blue crayon? I have all my other blues but not the normal blue one.” Sophie said looking up from her crayon box after counting them.

“Oh yeah! Nerd-tron borrowed it for his science junk notes,” Timmy said getting his own backpack for school.

“Ugh, you gotta be kidding me with this!” Sophie groaned as she stomped to the room next door and knocked.

“Jimmy! I need my crayon! You know I hate having an incomplete box!” Sophie waited for a few minutes before Jimmy opened the door and Jimmy’s mechanical dog Goddard suddenly ran by her legs.

“Oh hey, Sophie. What did you need again?” Jimmy asked.

“My blue crayon. You stole it from Tim who stole it from me.” Sophie explained.

“Oh, that was your crayon! No wonder it was such high quality!” Jimmy said.

“Yeah, so can I have it back?” Sophie asked.

“Of course! Let me get it for you.” Jimmy said as he started to search his desk area. Sophie followed him into his and ZIM’s shared room.

That’s James Neutron or “Jimmy” for short. He’s older than me by about a year and came here shortly after Timmy did. Nobody's quite sure what happened to his parents but Mom and Dad found him just wandering in traffic and took him to CPS. They did find some of his relatives on his father’s side but nobody took him because he’s apparently some sort of “bad omen” or something, so mom and dad took him in. It was then they were like “Well we already got the two kids, why not open up a foster home for more?” So he kinda started the whole Vanguard Home for Wayward Children in a way. He built Goddard when he was around six so it was a year before I got there.  

Jimmy is super smart, probably the smartest of all of us entirely being skilled in several different fields of science already. Though this can be annoying when he acts like a know it all and won’t admit when he makes a clear mistake. He stays mostly serious and doesn’t really play too much with us. Mostly because of Timmy. Timmy annoys him. However, he acts like a leader to us and takes care of us so that’s pretty good.

“Ah! Here it is!” Jimmy said holding up the crayon.

“Thanks, Jim. You’re a peach!” Sophie said as she put it in her bag.

“No problem. See you downstairs.” Jimmy said as he grabbed his bag and headed out. Sophie also started to head out starting to recount her crayons until she bumped into a teenage boy with black hair and ice blue eyes.

“Ow sorry, Danny…” Sophie said grinning sheepishly.  Danny rubbed his head as he stood up with his Bulldog, Cujo’s leash in hand.

“It’s cool Soph I was just gonna take Cujo out real quick. Hold on. You got a smudge on your face.” Danny said trying to wipe it off.  

“Mom c’mon stop!” Sophie whined as she tried to squirm out his grasp.

Danny groaned and said “Sophie. If you just hold still this would be over in a second.”

A high-pitched male voice called to them interrupting the squabble. “Danny! Sophie! What type of eggs do you want for breakfast?”

“Scrambled, please! And can I have hot chocolate to drink SB?” Sophie asked politely as she rushed to the banister to get away from Danny, making him sigh shaking his head.

“Of course sweetheart! Danny! What about you?” SB called back from the kitchen.

“I’ll take sunny side up SB!” Danny said as he and Cujo walked down the stairs. Sophie watched SB’s elderly cat Gary go downstairs followed by Lion and Sparky.

Those were two of my older brothers Daniel Fenton/”Danny” for short and Spencer Bob Sawyer-Patterson or “SB” for short. They both came here not too long after Timmy and Jimmy.

Danny is 14 and a freshman in high school. His parents were great scientists but died tragically in a lab accident when he was around four-ish. While his sister’s Jazz and Dani went to an all girls home Danny was not allowed to follow them making him end up here. Soon after he got here Mom and Dad got him a bulldog named Cujo to help him cope.

Danny is a really kind older brother. He’s kind of one of our parents second in command. So much so we actually call him mom because he always scolding us for doing the stupid things we do and wiping crap from our faces like you just saw. Danny always groans when we call him that even though he tells groan-worthy puns in return. Though we all know he secretly likes us calling him that as a term of endearment.

SB is 20 and currently going to culinary school while he lives here at home with us. Like Jimmy, we don’t actually know what happened to his parents. Every time he’s asked about it SB just bawls his eyes out. So we just stopped asking. All we know about his parents is that they are the ones that took SB to get his cat Gary, who has lived so long none of us know how old he is. Not even SB who got him as a full grown cat. Timmy swears he’s immortal while I’m just hoping we don’t come home from school one day and find him under a sofa “sleeping”.

SB is super sweet to all of us though he can be a little clueless and super innocent at times. Though I think he knows that strangely enough. Mom and Dad let him cook the meals for all of us cause he’s just such a good cook. He even makes all our lunches for school which takes so long he actually gets up at 4:00 AM to take his time making them. He’s definitely more of an early bird than any of us.

“Danny! Hurry up! We gotta leave in 30 minutes!” a black haired and violet-eyed teenage goth girl called from downstairs. Danny got to the bottom of the stairs with Cujo in hand and Sophie followed close behind.

“I know Sam. I just gotta take Cujo out to pee.” Danny said as he kissed her cheek before going outside.

“Morning dad,” Sophie said as she passed Sam to get to the kitchen.

“Good morning to you too son,” Sam said as she bumped the back of Sophie’s head.

Sophie went into the kitchen where she saw her brother SB with his curly dyed bright yellow hair with his original ginger hair peeking out and bright blue-eyes putting food down in front of her other older brother with dyed pink hair and dark brown eyes named Patrick. Jimmy and Timmy were already in the kitchen racing each other in an egg eating race. “Morning SB. Morning Pat-Pat.” Sophie said as she kissed both of their cheeks.

“Morning Soph-a-Loaf! Your breakfast is almost ready!” SB said cheerfully as he put down a fruit salad down for Sam who just walked in with her spider-shaped bag.

“Thanks, SB,” Sophie said sitting down next to Patrick who was scarfing down his food loudly which went along so nicely with Timmy and Jimmy’s muffled yelling. Sophie giggled as Sam pinched the bridge of her nose.

SB put a hand on her shoulder and asked “Tea?” Sam nodded quickly as SB poured her a cup of earl gray tea.

That is my sister Samantha Manson or “Sam” for short and my brother Patrick Star. They both came here about a few months after Danny and SB. Both have connections to Danny and SB too. Sam has been Danny’s best friend since kindergarten and now she is his girlfriend. Patrick has also been SB’s best friend since kindergarten.

Sam is the same age and grade as Danny. Her parents tried to force her into a life of fame and fortune that she frankly never wanted. So much so she ran away from her parents and ended up here. She and Danny just kind of clicked and got together by the end of middle school. Mom and Dad were pretty accepting of this. They just ask Danny and Sam make sure if and when they do something they are either out of the house, the entire family but them is out of the house, or lock the door which I’m still not sure what they mean by that. Do they mean kiss? Cause they’ve kissed in front of us before. Like more than once.

While we call Danny “Mom” we call Sam “Dad” a lot as an inside joke between all us. If Danny mothers us by taking care of our injuries and wiping stuff off our faces then Sam fathers us by punishing us when we do something wrong. Like when one of my older brothers, Manny,  “wandered” into a Victoria Secret to see girls. Even Danny knew that he was a dead man when Sam went to fish him out. I do still look up to her as one of my female role models. I mean she so strong-willed and passionate that I kinda wanna be like her when I’m older.

Patrick is 22 and currently going through community college though he’s not that great at it. Not that he’s stupid, he’s just a little slow. His parents have been out of the picture for a while so his older sister was taking care of him. A few years later he said his sister got “lost in the tide”. Whatever that means. He also has a pet a rock named Rocky that he randomly just found in the park one day and took it home with him.

Patrick’s such a sweetheart and really tries hard for us despite his faults like him being slow and kinda lazy too. Seriously he like sleeps a lot. I think I tend to pick up habits from my siblings cause I swear I have fallen asleep in some weird places just like him. Mom and Dad depend on him to feed the pets while SB feeds us.

Patrick got up and started putting down the food bowls for the pets after scarfing down his breakfast. He put down a bowl of nuts and bolts for Goddard, three bowls of big dog for Sparky, Boodles, and Perrito, a bowl of medium dog food for Cujo, two bowls of cat food for Gary and Lion, he put some sprinkles on Rocky, put out a muffin for Minimoose, and he put out a bowl of clams for Grudge. Goddard, Sparky, Gary, and Lion were already eating. Danny came in with Cujo and Cujo made a dash for his bowl as SB put down Danny’s and Sophie’s eggs. As SB poured Sophie’s hot chocolate into a mug, a tan boy with messy brown hair and green eyes rubbing his eyes sleepily came into the kitchen.

“Morning Tak!” Sophie said chipperly.

“Subah mere pyaare parivaar.” (Translation: ‘Morning my lovely family.’ {Hindi}) Tak said obviously not being too terribly awake as he made his way to the toaster. He spent a minute staring at it before he started to hit it. “Why. Won’t. This. Cursed. Machine. Work!”

Danny promptly went and stopped Tak from hitting it. “Tak. Leave the toaster alone. If you want toast so much then just sit next to Sophie and I’ll make it for you but Tak... the toaster isn’t even on.” Danny calmly explained.

“Oh…” Tak mumbled blushing as he sat next to Sophie. Sophie giggled and kissed his cheek.

That’s my brother Tak Pupanunu. He’s 13 and came here about a year after Danny, SB, Sam, and Patrick. He was the first one of us to come from a different country which he was raised in India. As far as we know his parents gave him up at one of the shrines and was adopted by his Uncle Jibolba and his adopted older brother Lok. However, Jibolba started to get sick and had to stay in the hospital most of the time. They moved to America so Jibolba could get better care. With Lok already being of age and Tak wasn’t it was inevitable he would be put into foster care. Tak is still allowed to visit Jibolba and Lok so it’s all good.

Tak’s gotten a good grasp on English though he still isn’t used to the technology. He’s a lot more mature than people give him credit for though he has been dragged into the childish side of the family by me, Timmy, and Snap before too. I was really scared when I first got here but Tak really helped me and actually treated me like a person unlike most of the legal people I had to go through to get here.

Now, this is where stuff gets kind of complicated so listen up. There was a very short pause between when Tak came and when the next kid came. Like maybe a month or so. Then Mom and Dad got five kids in a month. Like no joke. The first week were my brothers ZIM and GIR, the second week was my brother Manny, the third week was my sister Jenny, and the fourth week was my brother Blik. All of that in a row. It’s kind of insane how it happened.

“Good Morning my HORRIBLE family!” said a boy with light green skin, lavender eyes, and black hair strolled into the kitchen.

Sam rolled her eyes as she handed Tak his toast. “Morning ZIM. Did you take your meds this morning?” ZIM paused before shaking his head no.

“Zion Issac Martinez! You are supposed to take those every day.” Danny scolded.

ZIM looked down kicking the floor and mumbled out an apology. Danny sighed as he got him the right amount of pills and a cup of juice. ZIM took them without any protest.

Sophie then realized something. “Hey ZIM? Where’s GIR?”

ZIM looked at Sophie and said, “Well I did think he was following me down the stairs.” Suddenly everyone heard a loud squeaking noise. Sophie suddenly went to the stairs and caught a little five-year-old with bright blue eyes and long curly black hair.

“Hi, mama!” GIR chipperly said. Sophie sighed as a plush moose started floating around her.

“Thanks, Minimoose. Your muffin is on the counter.” Minimoose squee-ed happily as he flew into the kitchen. Sophie carried GIR into the kitchen with her.

“ZIM! You need to watch your baby brother better!” Sophie said as he put GIR in one of three booster seats and getting a bowl of Cheerios for him to eat.

“Not my fault he can’t walk downstairs.” ZIM shot back as Minimoose somehow ate that muffin in one swift motion.

Those are my brothers Zion Issac Martinez or “ZIM” for short, Greggory Ian Ramirez/“GIR” for short, and their robot Minimoose. ZIM is 12 while GIR is only five. GIR actually came here when he was pretty much a newborn. Oh, where to begin with these two. See ZIM was born to his mom as a really sick baby and he still is kind of sick but it’s better than when he was a toddler. I think it’s a sickness that affects his stomach and his liver so he can’t eat right and makes his skin this sickish greenish hue I call ‘I’m about to puke.’ green.

Anyway, their mom died shortly after GIR was born and with no father in the picture ZIM & GIR’s cousins took custody of them. They were abusive towards ZIM and didn’t take care for GIR. Eventually they just kinda got bored of toying with ZIM and listening to GIR’s cries that they just dropped them off here and didn’t look back. ZIM soon built Minimoose to care for both of them with daily reminders for ZIM to take his meds and keeping an eye on GIR.

ZIM is a bit… much? Oh, how do I even describe him? He’s brash, overconfident, and arrogant literally thinking he’s better than every one of us and better than anyone that he’ll ever meet. I have a theory that it’s because of him being bullied for being this sickly that he just ended up like this. He’s also really smart like Jimmy he just can’t really focus on a project for too long. I think mom once said after bringing him home from his doctor that he has ADHD or something like that.  ZIM is a good guy. Really he is. It's just really, really, REALLY hard to find the good in him. He does have his moments though. As for GIR well… I can literally describe him using two words. Sunshine and Sugar. Make of that what you will.

“We should probably teach GIR how to properly walk downstairs at some point,” Jimmy pointed out.

“We could probably cut his hair and he would be fine.” Timmy also pointed out as Sophie got out a brush and gasped.

“Absolutely not! His hair is a gift to society and should never be cut!” She started to brush GIR’s hair and tie it back into pigtails as GIR happily ate his Cheerios.

“So are you gonna brush his hair every single day?” Tak asked teasingly.

“I will if it means preserving his beauty!” Sophie said confidently.  

“What are we talking about?” a boy with tan skin, chocolate brown eyes with a scar over one of them, and curly chocolate black hair walked in with his bag.

SB handed him a plate with a sausage smothered in hot sauce. “Soph-a-Loaf got offended by the idea of cutting GIR-Bear’s hair.”

“I don’t see what the big deal is? It’s just a haircut to make him look shiny and clean!” Patrick said clapping.

“Of course it’s a big deal! How else is GIR gonna get all the ladies in his kindergarten class? He’s stinking handsome with his hair.” The boy said ruffling up GIR’s hair as GIR giggled and the boy took a bite of his sausage.

“Thank you, Manny for seeing my point,” Sophie said.

“Anytime Mi Amor,” Manny said winking at Sophie. Sophie groaned and rolled her eyes.

That’s my brother Manuel Pablo Gutierrez O’Brian Equihua Rivera or “Manny” for short. He’s 13 years old and actually is the second one of us to come from a different country. That being Mexico. His parents got divorced when he was really little and lived with his father and grandfather. However, it was deemed an unsafe living environment for Manny to live in so he was sent here. Both his parents and grandfather do still have visiting rights so that’s good at least.

Like Tak, he adapted to speaking English pretty fast and unfortunately has developed quite a habit of flirting like I mentioned with the whole Victoria Secret incident. Also, he just likes rebelling against authority just for the fun of it. Don’t get me wrong he’s just as protective as all my other brothers but he can be a bit obnoxious sometimes.

“What? Can’t handle my charm huh?” Manny said wiggling his eyebrows.

“Yeah, something like that…” Sophie mumbled.

Manny narrowed his eyes and squeezed her sides as he said “¡Ataque sorpresa!” (Translation: ‘Surprise Attack!’ {Spanish})

Sophie let out an inhuman noise and bumped her knee on the table. “You little ffff,” Sophie growled blushing.

“Sophia. Language. Little ears are listening.” Danny said pointing to GIR.

“...fluffer.” Sophie finished with a bite in her voice. Manny laughed along with Timmy and ZIM as he high-fived them. “Why do I suffer this type of abuse in this household?” Sophie grumbled.  

“Boys leave your sister alone. Just cause she’s younger than you doesn’t give you the right to pick on her just at random. At least be consistent if you are gonna tease her,” a teenage girl with red hair, blue eyes, and a robotic brace on her right arm and leg scolded as she walked into the kitchen. The boys rolled their eyes and each mumbled out an apology.

Sophie smiled and said “Thanks, Jenny.”

“Anytime Soph. Say, Jim? Can you loosen up the brace on my arm? I think it’s too stiff and I can’t really move it around that well.” Jenny explained.

“Sure thing Jen!” Jimmy said getting out a screwdriver from his backpack.

“You keep a screwdriver in your bag?” Sam asked raising an eyebrow. Jimmy just shrugged and got to work.

That’s my one of my other older sisters Jennifer Wakeman or “Jenny” for short. She’s 16 and is the oldest of us girls besides Mom. Jenny and her mom got into a really bad car crash that left Jenny’s mom paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair. Jenny wasn’t hurt nearly as bad but it left her right arm and leg paralyzed and unusable without special braces. Jenny can still visit her mom who now lives in an assisted living facility. She lived in all girls home before being transferred here.

Despite the trauma she’s been through, Jenny is a super sweet and upbeat person if not a little naive at times too. She’s usually the one who takes all of us shopping for clothes whenever we need it. She’s super into fashion and literally spends hours on the computer researching the latest trends so she can be a designer when she’s an adult.

“Finished!” Jimmy said as he pulled the screwdriver away and put it back in his bag. Jenny flexed her arm and sighed happily grabbing a granola bar to eat.

“Much better. Thanks, Jimmy!”

“No problem Jen.”

“By the way after school, we need to go to the mall for some new summer clothes,” Jenny stated munching on the granola bar.

“And who’s exactly paying for this?” a man with brown skin, black hair tied back in a man bun, and goldish eyes asked as he walked into the kitchen with a newspaper under his arm.

“Good Morning Blik!” Jenny said cheerily as she hugged his arm. “I was kinda hoping you would?” Jenny asked batting her eyes at him. Blik side eyed Jenny and it was then decided by Sophie that her sister needed help.

Sophie tugged at Blik’s pants and said in a cutesy voice “Pwease Bliky? We are growing children. We need new clothes.”

Blik blushed at the nickname, sighed, and picked Sophie up placing her on his hip. “Alright fine. I will pay for the clothes.”

That is our oldest brother Blik Cramdilly. He’s 25 and just finished college this year but moved back to help Mom and Dad take care of us all. His father ditched him and his mom after he and his brothers were born. Unfortunately, their mother passed away when they were kids and their grandmother passed away when they were teenagers. This led to them being unable to inherit their massive fortune and while his brothers, Waffle and Gordon, had family members to take care of them due to both their father's side of the family, Blik did not. This is how he ended up in foster care. Six months later he did inherit his fortune along with his two brothers before they went off to college. However, Blik remained loyal to our strange family and would come back to visit us until he graduated. He then came back home to help raise us and help with the finances.

Blik can be a real grump sometimes. And loud. Very loud too. He likes buying things for himself so he can seem very powerful to those who try to cross our family. Even though he acts like it’s the worst thing in the world I think that he secretly likes buying us things. I don’t know, he just seems like he’s in good mood after seeing me with the tablet he bought me for drawing or when SB thanks him for the new set of pots and pans Blik got for him. He also is the one who keeps track of our doctor visits and allergies surprisingly enough. I think that shows he’s at least somewhat concerned for our wellbeings.

“Ugh, do we have to go clothes shopping AGAIN? We already have okay clothes.” Tak complained.

Jenny sighed and booped Tak’s nose. “Someday dear brother you will understand the importance of fashion.”

Blik put Sophie down and said, “Alright does everyone have their backpacks?” He was met with a chorus of Yes’s, Yeah’s, Yup’s, and Duh’s.

“Alright then. SB give everyone their lunches.”

“Okey Dokey!” SB said cheerfully as he handed everyone a personalized lunch box.

The lunch boxes were hanging up on a rack in the kitchen. Each lunch box was a different color to tell who’s was who’s. Blue for Jimmy, Pink for Timmy, Green for Danny, Violet for Sam, Yellow for SB, Lime for Patrick, Orange for Tak, Magenta for ZIM, Teal for GIR, Brown for Manny, Bright Blue for Jenny, and Light Pink for Sophie.

“By the way, your sushi is in the fridge whenever you eat your lunch today,” SB said looking back at Blik who was getting coffee.

“Thanks, SB.” Blik said taking a long sip of that coffee from a ‘Nope.’ mug.

A frazzled looking woman with pink curly hair and wearing a yellow blouse came into the kitchen. “Okay! It is almost time for school! Is everyone in the kitchen? Let me get a headcount,” she said as she started silently started to count.

That’s our mom Wanda Cosma. Her dad runs a successful garbage company and she’s the heiress so we get funds from her dad. It’s pretty cool. She may run the company if she ever gets sick of being a stay at home mom which I don’t think is happening anytime soon.

She’s pretty much our responsible parent. You know the usual stuff. Stopping us from doing stupid things and making sure we don’t go to the hospital more than once a month each. That kind of stuff. She tends to play bad cop in actually disciplining us instead of letting us run wild and free. She’s actually really great at balancing all of us and making sure we get the attention we deserve and/or crave.

“Wait there is only 13 of you and Poof is upstairs with your father so which nine are we missing?” Wanda asked.

Blik looked at what lunch boxes are left. “Indigo, Aqua, Fuschia, Bubblegum Pink, Red, Gray, Bright Green, Powder Blue, and Moss Green.”

Wanda was trying to connect the colors to the kids as Sophie spoke up. “Snap isn’t down here.”

“And Boodles didn’t come in for breakfast…. so Bunsen isn’t up yet either.” Jimmy deduced.

“Neither did Perrito so Dora isn’t up,” Jenny added.

“Meaning Marinette and Tikki aren’t up either,” Sam concluded.

“Now that you mention it… I don’t remember seeing Adrien or Plagg get up either.” Danny said.

“Well, I know Vendetta and Charlotte are up,” Manny said shrugging.

“Where are they then?” Wanda asked with her hands on her hips.

“In the backyard with Grudge doing… something? I don’t know. Vendetta is a weird kid.” Manny said throwing his arms up like ‘what do you want me to do about it?’

Wanda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as she walked out of the kitchen and into the foyer. “Snap White! Bunsen Knai’livac! Dora Marquez! Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Tikki Dupain-Cheng! Adrien Agreste! Plagg Agreste! Charlotte Winfrey! Vendetta Mortcheva! It is time for school! Come to the kitchen!” Wanda waited for a moment before she heard feet running from the downstairs bathroom and down the stairs.

From the downstairs bathroom was a pale teenage girl with blueish-black short pigtails blue eyes, and freckles carrying a five-year-old girl with fair skin, short dark red hair, and matching blue eyes. The two coming down the stairs was a very lightly tanned teenage boy with blond hair and green eyes carrying a five-year-old boy with dark brown skin, messy black hair, and matching green eyes.

The two teens nearly crashed into each other as they both said with a slight French accent: “Sorry mom!”

Wanda shook her head. “What were you doing that took you so long? Marinette? Adrien?”

“Tikki’s hair was a real mess so I’ve been messing with it so it stays flat for the day,” Marinette said as she let Tikki down to get a poptart from SB. Wanda nodded to Marinette before looking at Adrien and Plagg for their excuse.

“Plagg was being a butt and whining about going to school so he was not being cooperative this morning,” Adrien said bluntly.

“SCHOOL IS BORING!” Plagg yelled from Adrien’s arms.

“Plagg sweetie. If GIR and Tikki have to go to kindergarten then so do you. As much as you want it to be so, Adrien can’t carry everywhere.” Wanda explained calmly.

Plagg pouted and said “Fine but there better be Camembert in my lunch.”

Wanda nodded and looked at SB who was giving the Bubblegum Pink and Red lunch boxes to Marinette and Tikki. “Oh right!” SB said as he grabbed the Gray and Bright Green lunch boxes and walking over to Adrien and Plagg. He handed Adrien the Gray lunch box before kneeling down to Plagg’s height giving him the Bright Green lunch box.

“And I put extra Camembert so you can be an extra good boy today!” SB smiled.

Plagg grinned hopping up and down. “Cool! Thanks, SB!”

If you couldn’t tell the girls are Marinette Dupain-Cheng and her little sister Tikki while the boys are Adrien Agreste and his little brother Plagg. Adrien is 15, Marinette is 14, and Tikki and Plagg are both five years old just like GIR. All four of them are originally from France actually and came around the same time about a few months before Poof was born so it was a little stressful for mom but dad handled it really well. Marinette and Adrien are also dating too and follow the same rules as Danny and Sam.

Marinette and Tikki’s parents tragically died in a car crash on a really rainy night while Marinette was babysitting Tikki. Her parents always dreamed of moving to America with their daughters to start a franchise of bakeries so that’s what Marinette told her grandmother, who really was too busy traveling to take care of her granddaughters. So she came over to America with them and dropped them both off here and they stayed here ever since.

Adrien and Plagg’s story is a bit more troubling. See shortly after Plagg was born Adrien’s mother went missing and Adrien’s father became more and more closed off towards his sons. His father wanted the Agreste name to be absolutely perfect with no smudges what so ever. So he forced Adrien to be a model and controlled what Adrien did, where he would go, who he would talk to, and even what he ate. Plagg though wasn’t as treated as “nice” as Adrien was. Their father didn’t see Plagg as his son due to his skin color and locked him away in a back bedroom. Adrien was the only one allowed to care for him and this caused Plagg to become inseparable with Adrien. After Adrien’s bold move of divorcing his father, he and Plagg were moved to be closer to their mother’s friends, the Bourgeois’, who lived in America leading them to come here.

Marinette is a lot like Jenny actually. She’s sweet, outgoing, and very into fashion. She’ll be the one most likely to help Jenny shop for clothes for us. This is because the boys don’t care except for Adrien, all Sam knows is Hot Topic, I get distracted by the simplest things, Dora is still new to this “teenage girl” thing, and Tikki, Vendetta, and Charlotte are way too young to understand. Though her differences from Jenny, Marinette is a bit more awkward in social situations and way clumsier than any of us. She has her moments of confidence though. Especially when she’s sticking up for Tikki or any of us for that matter.

Tikki is the polar opposite of both GIR and Plagg oddly enough. For a five-year-old, she is incredibly calm and quiet. Like to strange level. Of course, she’s extremely kind and loving towards us. Sometimes though she just quietly follows us around. She does this for cookies. We give her a cookie and she goes away to follow someone else. We know we shouldn’t be feeding her habit but that’s literally all we can do. She won’t accept anything else. The only one that doesn’t seem to mind is Marinette because she’s used to this. Tikki is a really sweet girl though.

Adrien is definitely a people person during parties but he’s actually much of an introvert due to his father’s “brainwashing”. We’ve been helping him get more freedom though. This has turned him into a more fun loving person. Oh sure he’s still kinda serious but he’s getting better. Unfortunately, Danny has gotten him into saying puns and it’s gotten kind of annoying. Still, Adrien is an extremely kind person despite what his father has done to him over the years and is being a big help to us with the smaller kids.

Plagg apparently used to be a very silent and obedient child under his father’s rule according to Adrien. Yeah... I don’t buy it for a second. To me at his best Plagg is carefree and sarcastic, at his worst he’s a lazy and sour little kid. He has become Timmy, Manny, and Snap’s protege when it comes to pranks. It sucks but it makes him happy so why not? Plagg is also an extremely picky eater. He will not eat anything unless we give him Camembert cheese with it. It’s kinda weird.  

“By the way Mari? Tikki? Where’s Dora? Don’t tell me she’s still asleep.” Wanda said.

“Oh no. Perrito was whining earlier this morning so Dora took him out earlier than she usually does.” Marinette said as she bit into a banana.

Adrien came and wrapped an arm around Mari. “I think it was like six o’clock when she left cause I was in the bathroom with Plagg.”

“Well do you know when she’ll be back?” Wanda asked. Marinette tried to remember as Tikki tugged on her foster mother’s pant leg. “Yes, Tikki? What is it?”

Tikki starred at Wanda chewing on her poptart until she finally said: “Dora said she would be back before school.” Just as Tikki said that in walked a 12-year-old girl with tanned skin, long chocolate brown hair, and brown eyes holding a leash with a chocolate lab at the end of it.

“Lo Siento mama. Perrito really had to go to the bathroom,” (Translation: ‘Sorry mom.’ {Spanish}) the girl said.

Wanda sighed and said “It’s alright Dora. Just remember to take your phone with you next time you go out with Perrito. Okay?”

“Si, mama.” (Translation: ‘Yes, mom.’) Dora said letting Perrito off the leash to get his food. “By the way Patrick, could I have one of those little cookies for Perrito? He had a hard time going outside.” Dora asked. Patrick nodded as he got a special biscuit for Perrito and put it in Perrito’s food.

“Dora! Here’s your lunch box.” SB said handing the Fuschia lunch box to her.

Dora grinned and said “Gracias SB!” (Translation: ‘Thanks, SB!’)

That’s Dora Marquez. She’s 12 years old and roughly came here about a few months after I did. Like Manny, she came here from Mexico and moved to the states when she was around eight years old with her parents, her little brother and sister, her grandmother, and Perrito. When she turned nine her parents had to go back on an expedition of the rainforest to help some injured animals so while her grandmother and siblings stayed in the city, Dora and Perrito moved in with us.

Dora is a super kind person. Like to the point that it’s almost sickly sweet and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her get angry at like anything. She is kind of a tomboy like me so I look up to her a lot and like to go on adventures with her. Though lately she’s been getting more and more girly. I mean I don’t mind it so much it’s just that I either have to go with my sisters who are girlier than I am or with the boys who can be very, very annoying. Otherwise, though Dora is probably the nicest sister I could ask for.

“Dora? Did you see Bunsen or Snap get up for school?” Blik asked as Dora turned to him.

“Well I did see Bunsen’s door closed but I’m not sure about Snap,” Dora said shaking her head.

“Oh. Snap is still asleep. At least he was when I left our room.” Timmy said casually.

Wanda and Blik both facepalmed. “Sport, if he was still asleep why didn’t you wake him up?” Wanda asked.

“I dunno. I’m not his keeper!” Timmy argued.

Blik mumbled an ‘Oh my god.’ as Wanda asked: “Can one of you please go and remind your brothers that you can’t sleep in on a school day?”

“I’ll do it!” Sophie said raising her hand and then running upstairs.

“Thank you, sweetie!” Wanda called after her.

I guess it’s my turn to tell you about me huh? Like I said at the beginning my name is Sophie Hathaway and I’m 10 years old. I used to live in Hawaii with my biological family and we were all pretty happy. That was until my mother died when I was three then our family just started to drift apart. By the time I was six years old everyone was kinda placed where they needed to be and while I was supposed to go with my uncle, he was traveling too much to take care of me. So that’s how I ended up here a few years after Blik came but before Dora, Marinette, Tikki, Adrien, and Plagg. I still see some of my older siblings often enough and my dad comes to visit us once a month with my siblings Skylar, Silas, Liv, Nate, and Stef so it’s okay I guess.

I was really scared of everyone when I first got here though. The smells and sounds were all different and while I was used to having a big family these people were basically strangers to me. Also, I spoke Hawaiian primarily in my old house and now I am forced into English daily now which six-year-old me did not approve of at all. However, they were understanding knowing I needed time and over that time I learned to trust them which was very hard for me to do. Now I couldn’t imagine my life without them.

Sophie finally made it upstairs and was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the bathroom faucet running.

“Maybe Snap or Bunsen is already up?” Sophie thought as she knocked on the bathroom door. “Hey, is someone in here?” A few seconds later a man with neatly combed green hair holding a little baby boy with a tuft of curly purple hair and purple pajamas came out of the bathroom. “Morning Dad! Morning Poof!” Sophie cooed at her little brother.

“Morning Muncha-Bunch,” Cosmo said kissing the top of her head.

That’s our dad Cosmo Cosma. He eloped with our mom! His mom never did forgive him for that but it’s fine. She stopped being mad at our mom when we came into the picture. She’s like the super cool grandma that brings us gifts like all the time.

Cosmo is our fun parent that likes to take us on trips and out to eat a lot. Though Wanda seems to rain him in when he goes too far because he can be a little careless at times but he definitely loves us. Like I said he’s the good cop to Wanda’s bad cop. He usually sneaks us dessert when Wanda scolds us too hard.

And that little baby he’s holding is our baby brother Poof. Poof is Mom and Dad’s only biological kid but despite that, they still love us equal. Poof is only like a year old so he’s the youngest of all of us

He is literally the sweetest thing. We all take turns looking after him. Except for Vendetta, Charlotte, GIR, Tikki, and Plagg. Four out the five of them should never be trusted with babies. I mean Tikki is arguably okay but everyone else is a disaster waiting to happen so just trust me on this. Don’t.

“So what are you doing upstairs? I thought you guys were ready for school?” Cosmo asked bouncing a gurgling Poof.

“Well most of us are but Snap, Bunsen, Charlotte, and Vendetta aren’t. They didn’t come downstairs.” Sophie explained.  

“Well, I saw Snap was still in bed with his door open and your sisters are outside but not sure about Bunsen,” Cosmo said tapping his chin.

“Thanks, Dad! I’m gonna go figure this out.” Sophie said.

“Okay. Get your brothers up though. We are on the clock!” Cosmo said patting her head before heading downstairs with Poof gurgling.

“I will!” Sophie called back.

She made her way to Timmy and Snap’s room to see her light blond brother hugging his pillow dreaming. Sophie sat down on his bed and started to gently shake his shoulder. “Snap. C’mon you gotta get up. We gotta go to school.”

Snap groaned and gripped his pillow tighter. “Mmmm five more minutes Buckette…” He said in his thick Bronx accent.

“No, you need to get up like right now,” Sophie said sensing the urgency of the situation. “We leave in literally 15 minutes.” Snap snored loudly to indicate the conversation was over. Sophie narrowed her eyes and said, “You leave me no choice dear brother.” Sophie pulled back her covers, slipped her hands under Snap’s light blue t-shirt, and tasered his sides.

Snap flipped the heck out and made a girlish squeal before falling out of bed. “What the heck Buckette?!” Snap yelled his bright blue eyes glaring at her.

“Told you I was left no other choice.” Sophie shrugged sticking out her tongue.

That’s one of my younger older brothers, Snap White. He’s 10 like me and Timmy though he’s a few months older than Timmy. He came here about six months after Poof was born. He originally came from a foster home in Greenland before moving to the states. Specifically the Bronx part of New York City which is where he gained his accent. So his speaking is a mix of West Greenlandic and English. He didn’t really enjoy being moved again so he acted out a lot which concerned my parents. He got super mad at a teacher for telling him his superhero clothes were ridiculous and put glue on their chair which Mom and Dad were not happy about. Then one day he saw me drawing and asked me if I was an artist. I said yes and suddenly he’s super cuddled up to me. Cut to a day later and we are basically best friends. He tells me that his cape is actually his old baby blanket and it’s the only thing that makes him feel secure. I told Mom and Dad and they took care of it. Since then Snap has been one of my closest brothers.

Snap can be really stubborn about things he thinks he’s entitled to like you just saw with the sleep problem. He’s always looking for ways to get out of boring things like adult parties or school and tries dragging us along with him. He is super clingy though like in a physical sense. He’ll cling to your arm, random hugs, hold your hand, etc. I think he may have abandonment issues but I don’t really wanna say anything to him since he’s just gonna deny them to be a “real man”.

“Þú ert að borga fyrir þetta.” (Translation: ‘You are going to pay for this.’ {West Greenlandic}) Snap glared as he put on his mask and cape.

Sophie laughed and shot back in Hawaiian, “Inā 'oe makemake i wale loaʻa i loko o ka wahi mua au makemake ole i kūpono ai i loko o ka hoʻokolokoloʻiaʻana” (Translation: ‘If you would have just gotten up in the first place I wouldn’t have resulted in the torture.’)

“I’m just saying when you walk through that door this afternoon you are dead,” Snap said as he put on his gloves and boots before walking out the door. Sophie just responded by blowing a raspberry at him. Now she was going towards Bunsen’s room.  

Sophie noticed the door was closed so she knocked on it. “Bunsen? You up? We gotta get to school.” After waiting for a minute Sophie quietly opened the door to see Bunsen’s St. Bernard puppy, Boodles, sitting at the door waiting to be let out for breakfast. “Okay, Boodles go get breakfast,” Sophie said pointing downstairs. Boodles barked and ran downstairs. Sophie quietly went into Bunsen’s room and shook his shoulder while he slept. “Bunsen we gotta go to school. Wake up.” Bunsen slowly woke up and grabbed his glasses rubbing his eyes.

“Sophie? What’s wrong? Why are you rushing me?”

“We need to go to school in like 15 minutes,” Sophie stated.

“WHAT?!” Bunsen screamed as he rushed out of bed and to put his school clothes on.

That’s one of the newest members of this family Bunsen Knai’livac. He’s 12 years old and originally came from Taiwan because his parents thought more opportunities would arise here. He’s still getting used to being with us and speaking English mostly instead of Chinese. He got here about two months ago but he’s made progress at least. The first thing he connected with was Boodles in a pet store so naturally, Mom and Dad got Boodles to give him some stability.  He still does have panic attacks about breaking the rules cause he grew up in such a strict household. We’ve been getting really good at calming him down and he’s even joined theater at school!

People who don’t really know Bunsen would describe him very loud and excitable which I mean is true to a certain degree. However, to us, we know him better than some strangers. He has the anxiety of letting his parents down constantly on his shoulders that he wouldn’t be a real functioning member of society. He can be a total theater nerd sometimes but for the most part, he’s pretty quiet and nice with the occasional bits of snark here and there.

“Ó, wǒ de shàngdì. Wǒmen yào chídàole wǒmen de lǎoshī huì shēngqì, māmā hé bàba huì shēngqì. Nàme tāmen bù zài xūyào wǒle!” (Translation: Oh my god. We are going to be late! Our teachers are going to be mad and Mom and Dad are going to be mad. Then they won't want me anymore! {Chinese}) Bunsen ranted off quickly as he got dressed.

Sophie sighed and put her hands on his shoulders to calm him down. “Bunsen it’s okay. You made a mistake. Nobody is gonna send you away for that Bunsie Boo.” Sophie kissed his nose to drive her point home.

Bunsen smiled a little and kissed her forehead. “Thanks, Soph.”

“You’re welcome. Now finish getting ready and get downstairs.” Sophie said going out of the room.

Sophie made her way downstairs with Snap close behind. She didn’t think much of it until Snap’s hands found his way to her sides and Sophie squealed and started laughing. “Snap! What are you doing?!”

“Hefnd er mín!” (Translation: Vengeance is mine! {West Greenlandic}) Snap shouted. Bunsen passed them giving his siblings a weird look as Snap tickled their sister and Sophie laughed like a doofus and clung to the stair railing.

“Jenny! Snap is trying to kill Sophie again!” Bunsen yelled as he entered the kitchen.

Jenny poked her head out and glared at Snap. “Snap! Leave your sister alone! Look at her! She’s dying!”

Snap groaned and rolled his eyes complying with his older sister’s request. “Fine!”

Snap continued to walk down the stairs smirking as Sophie panted and clung to the railing. “Oh thank the gods he stopped.”

Suddenly a knock came from the front door. “I’ll get it!~” SB called as he opened the front door.

A 10-year-old boy with poofy blond hair, hazel eyes, and wearing a dark brown aviator jacket with a glow stick bracelet is on his left wrist was standing there with a smile.

“Oh hello, Xavier! You here to go to school with us?”

“Yup! Managed to escape my stick in the mud parents. Is Sophie around?”

“Hey, Xavier!” Sophie waved as she laid on the stairs.

“What are you doing lying on the stairs?” Xavier asked before sitting next to her.

“Snap nearly killed me!” Sophie yelled loud enough for Snap to hear.

“Not my fault you are so sensitive!” Snap laughed from the kitchen.

“I mean he’s not wrong.” Xavier shrugged sheepishly as he sat next to her on the stairs. Sophie playfully hit his arm in response.

That’s my best friend Xavier. He’s 10 years old like me and is a week older than me. While he isn’t part of the family he might as well be. His parents are kind of overbearing so he likes coming over here more. I met him when his family was vacationing in Hawaii. Since then we’ve been inseparable. He was the one who helped me with my English and helped me to adjust to mainland America. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine living without him. He’s just always there for me and gets along with the family well. He’s kind of like the unofficial kid of the family where he’s part of the family but “legally” we aren’t responsible for him. So that’s pretty cool.

He’s super intelligent in the book smart kind of way. I remember when his family visited Hawaii and we became friends, he would read on the beach and I would just listen to him. Sometimes I would even fall asleep to him reading. Xavier is also 87% of my impulse control. Like if I didn’t have him, I’d probably would've died by now from a stupid decision.

“What? I’m just saying you are and there is nothing wrong that.” Xavier said putting up his hands in a defensive position.

“Ugh, you’ve spent too much time with this family. I swear to the gods. You are starting to sound like most of my brothers. You better not start selling me out to them.” Sophie scolded. “BLIK does that enough!”

“Hey! I have never done that in the four years you’ve lived here.” Blik argued as he walked into the room

“Yesterday you sold me out for a root beer to Danny!” Sophie argued.

“That wasn’t a sellout that was a trade. Very different. Now can you please get our sisters from the backyard so we can leave?” Blik smirked.

As Xavier said “Yup” Sophie let out a less enthusiastic, mumbled “Yeah.”

Blik grinned and said “Oh Timothy!~ Sophie needs-”

Sophie immediately hit his arm. “No. Shut up. I’m fine.”

Blik chuckled ruffling up her hair. “Fine then.”

“C’mon let’s go get them,” Sophie said getting off the stairs and heading towards the backyard with Xavier in tow. They walked into a pretty big backyard which has an above ground pool, a trampoline, a small playground, some swings hanging from trees, a sandbox, and a playpen for Poof to keep himself from roaming anywhere he pleases. It also has quite a lot of trees as well. Sophie spotted two girls around eight years old huddled in a corner doing… something? Sophie and Xavier both couldn’t tell what they were doing. They could only see the backs of the short, curly blonde hair of the peach skinned girl and the long, brown hair styled in messy pigtails of the much paler girl who seemed to be holding something.

“Um, Vendetta? Charlotte? Mom says to get inside. It’s time for school and Grudge still hasn’t eaten.” Sophie said pointing her thumb to the back door.

Both girls turned their heads around revealing the blonde girl’s bright blue eyes and the brunette girl’s dimmed green eyes.

“Okay Sophie!” the blonde girl said chipperly as she skipped over to hug Sophie’s waist. “Grudge made a new friend and me and Vendetta watched it!” Charlotte said bouncing up and down happily.

“What do you mean new frien- oh my god!” Xavier shouted as Vendetta came over holding her pet raccoon, Grudge, who had a snake in his mouth. A dead snake in his mouth. Lovely.

Sophie put her face into her hands and groaned. “Vendetta. You know what mom and dad have said about Grudge… erm… “making friends” with wild snakes,” Sophie censoring herself for the sake of Charlotte.

“Stupid Raccoon wanted to make a fiend.” Vendetta stated simply in her thick Bulgarian accent. “That is not mine or Charlotte’s fault.”

“Don’t you mean friend?” Xavier asked curiously.

“I said what I said.” Vendetta shot back rather rudely.  

Xavier gave a look to Sophie as Sophie sighed, “Look. I’m your big sister now so tell Grudge to drop his snake friend or fiend or whatever and get in the house so we can go to school.”

“Fine. Stupid Raccoon. Drop.” Vendetta commanded as Grudge spat out the snake.

“Yay! Time for school! Come on Vendetta!” Charlotte cheered as she grabbed Vendetta’s hand skipping into the house.

“Do not touch me you stupid blue girl!” Vendetta yelled as they both disappeared into the house.

Xavier turned his face back to Sophie and said: “I’m sorry but what the heck is wrong with your new sister?”

“Oh, so many things…” Sophie sighed shaking her head.

So like you just saw those are our new additions to the family Charlotte Winfrey, Vendetta Mortcheva, and Vendetta’s pet raccoon… yes, raccoon… Grudge. Charlotte and Vendetta are only eight years old and just got transferred here last month. They got transferred here from their old foster home in a place called Clamberg because the foster home was terrified of Vendetta and her and Charlotte are a package deal.

I’ll explain Charlotte first because really. She’s a lot easier to understand than Vendetta is.

Charlotte got put into the foster care system when she was super young. Both her parents died while attending a music festival outside of Vermont in a mass shooting, unfortunately. This caused Charlotte to be placed in Clamberg with her only known living relative, her grandmother Charlene. The sad thing is that Charlotte still doesn’t know her parents died. Charlene told her that they were both astronauts living up in a space station. Nobody has had the heart to tell her yet. Charlene got too sick to raise Charlotte so when she was six years old Charlotte was placed in the foster care system.

Charlotte is a super sweet girl. Like probably the sweetest you’ll ever meet. She loves everything in the world and everyone in it. Probably if you take her to Disney World she would be smiling the whole time and say hi to all the characters. Even the villains! She is a little… “slow”… sometimes though. She doesn’t quite understand what's happening most of the time unless someone, usually Vendetta, tells her.

Speaking of Vendetta, let's talk about her because oh boy. There’s a lot to talk about.

So as you noticed by her accent Vendetta is from Bulgaria. She moved to America when she was a toddler with both of her parents, her older sister Vasilika, and her twin sister Joanna. Soon after her parents had three more children. Vendetta’s younger twin brothers, Darian & Valko, and her baby sister Rosica. However starting after Darian and Valko were born, Vendetta’s father started to get more...abusive towards his wife and older daughters. Well, TWO of his older daughters. He never laid a hand on Joanna or any of his younger children. He did frequently hurt his wife Violetta and Vasilika but it was Vendetta who got the raw end of the deal. Vendetta’s father, if you can even call him that now, considered Vendetta his child from hell. It wasn’t just physical abuse either. When Vendetta was finally admitted to the foster after the incident (which I’ll get to in a minute) she was malnourished and was so dirty that initial reports had Vendetta’s skin and hair color way darker than it actually was.

About the incident. One night Vendetta’s “father” had been drinking quite a lot. Violetta tried to get him to stop for the children’s sake but that just made him angrier. He ended up shouting so loud he had woken up Vasilika, Vendetta, and Joanna and in a moment of panic, Vasilika grabbed the family gun. When the girls got downstairs that had found their father had just finished strangling their mother to death. When he saw his three daughters standing there witnessing him kill his wife. He was enraged and started moving towards Vasilika first and she ended up shooting him once in the head. He fell dead on the floor inches from his now dead wife. Joanna had broken down into tears. Vasilika had no idea what she had just done and just stood there in shock. But Vendetta… oh, Vendetta. She was furious. She began yelling at Vasilika for not doing that sooner. That they all could have been freed earlier if she would have thought of this. She yelled at Joanna to stop crying and blamed her for being the “perfect” one. She yelled at the corpses of her parents. Her mother for not being stronger and her father for being a complete asshole to his own wife and children. She even yelled at herself for being a ‘devil child.’  The only people she didn’t blame for this was her younger brothers and baby sister since they had nothing to do with this. Later in the early morning, Vasilika called the police and all six of them were put in the custody of CPS. Three of them scarred for life and three of them too young to understand what was happening.

After that Vendetta essentially disowned her sisters and refuses to talk to or about them. She doesn’t talk about her parents either. She still visits her younger siblings as long as Vasilika and Joanna aren’t there. When she got to the foster home in Clamberg she never played with the other kids and spent nights alone in the backyard. The entire staff and all of the children were terrified of her. Accidents started happening around the home and they blamed Vendetta but none of them could prove it. She even one night came back with a raccoon which was Grudge. He was trained to essentially be a house cat. This confused the staff for two reasons. One: Raccoons are not native to Clamberg. So where did she find this raccoon? Two: How did she even train this creature? The staff had no idea on either of these questions and they weren’t about to question Vendetta of all people so they let her keep Grudge. It was just the two of them for two years until Charlotte got there. She was the only person that wasn’t afraid of Vendetta and that struck a nerve with Vendetta. So Vendetta became Charlotte’s soul defender even though she still insulted Charlotte from time to time, though Charlotte clearly doesn’t mind.

Cut to a month ago where the Clamberg foster home had enough of Vendetta’s reign and sent her here far away from Clamberg. Charlotte just came with cause they are now a package deal.

Vendetta doesn't seem that bad as her previous foster home made her out to be. Sure she’s dark, sarcastic, weird, sometimes super mean, and cusses in Bulgarian thinking we can’t hear her when we can. She’s also super bright though and probably the smartest girl in the house. We just wish she would relax a little bit and realize we won’t let her get hurt here but we also realize she needs time and we will give her that.

...What? I told you Vendetta is a complicated creature with a complicated history.

“Let’s just go so we can finally get to school. Max is gonna chew the two of us out if we are late again.” Sophie said tiredly. Xavier nodded and followed her back into the house and into the kitchen. They stood next to Charlotte and Vendetta who was letting Grudge eat his clams from the palm of her hand. The two of them just watched the chaos conduct in the large kitchen as everybody was shouting over each other.

“Alright, kids! Listen up!” Cosmo clapped loudly as all his children proceeded to quiet down. “Okay everybody go upstairs one last time. If you have a pet put them up in your room or if the pet is in a cage in your room feed them. Double check you have everything and then proceed to the van as planned. Ready? Go!” Cosmo yelled.

Sophie picked up Lion and motioned for Xavier to follow her. She was followed up the stairs by Jimmy carrying Goddard, Timmy carrying Sparky, Danny carrying Cujo, SB carrying Gary, Patrick carrying Rocky, ZIM leading Minimoose, Bunsen carrying Boodles, Dora leading Perrito, and Vendetta carrying Grudge. The other siblings followed up the stairs to double check their rooms to not forget anything. All except Blik whose room was the garage and Poof who was safe in his mother’s arms.

Sophie lead Xavier into her room and closed the door behind them.It was a small bedroom with a tiny closet, a small bed, and a small bookshelf. When they move Sophie requested she get her own room since she was a growing young lady now and thought it be better if she didn't share a room with Timmy and Snap. Xavier flopped down on Sophie’s bed as Sophie put Lion in his cat carrier. Lion meowed in protest as Sophie answered back “I know Lion you don’t like it but it’s only for the morning.”

“Do you think he can really understand you?” Xavier asked.

“Mmm, I like to think he does.” Sophie answered as she went to her closet and pulled out a box labeled ‘Special Things.’ She rummaged through it and pulled out two books. One was was a glittery sketchbook while the other was a scrapbook with the title of ‘Family is Forever.’ She hugged them close to her chest before stuffing them into her backpack. “Okay, we can go now,” Sophie said smiling.

“Finally. You know Max is gonna kick us out of the group if we keep showing up late.” Xavier said getting up from her bed.

“No, he can’t,” Sophie said as she opened up her door and turned her light off. “First off he would have to find a new second to replace me. Second, I basically own his soul at this point. So even if wanted too he couldn’t kick us out.”

“Fair enough,” Xavier shrugged.

Sophie went to each room to check everybody was out and essentially take roll for their mother as one of her chores.

Timmy had put up Sparky in his crate as Snap fed his hamster Musty and his pet frog Wiggums. For two fifth grade boys, they could sure make a mess of everything. Sophie was glad she moved out of there.

Jimmy and ZIM put Goddard and Minimoose on chargers and left their neat bedroom. It was neat because they both pretty much spent all their time in the basement lab with Vendetta.

Danny put up Cujo in his crate as Adrien put on his mother’s ring to wear on his right hand and Plagg grabbed his black cat plush from the top bunk of his and Adrien’s bunk beds. Plagg refused to sleep with GIR and Poof in fear of losing Adrien.

SB had put Gary in his cat carrier and grabbed his clean uniform while Patrick carefully put Rocky on the side table on his side of the room. The two had shared a room every since Patrick got there and they decided to never ever switch.

Tak had fed Navis, his and his best friend Jeera’s shared guinea pig, as Manny grabbed his soccer uniform for the day. Tak wanted the room with the biggest window and Manny just wanted a huge bed so they ended up with the biggest room on the floor.

GIR had grabbed his green dog plush and Poof’s baby bag from their room as a favor for Wanda and Cosmo. ZIM didn't even want to be near GIR as he slept. GIR had his own room until Poof was born.

Finally, on the boy's side of the hall, Bunsen had put Boodles in his crate and grabbed his script for play rehearsal. Bunsen just had his own room for now until another boy showed up at the foster home.

Meanwhile, on the girl’s side of the hall, Sam had grabbed an umbrella, since it was supposed to be bright that day, and Jenny grabbed some fashion magazines for her and her best friend who was a girl, Misty, to share at lunch. Their room consisted of a lot of black, pink, and purple. The color scheme was a compromise.

While Dora had put Perrito in his crate, Marinette grabbed her late mother’s earrings to wear that day and Tikki grabbed her ladybug plush from the bottom bunk of her’s and Marinette’s shared bunk beds. As the only little girl in the house, Tikki ended up sleeping with her sister and Dora didn’t mind the extra roommate.

Finally, Vendetta set down Grudge down on her gothic styled bed, since she refused to put him in any confinements, and Charlotte fed her hamster Buttons and her bird Buttons 2 before grabbing her brightly colored girl scout uniform along with Vendetta’s black girl scout uniform. Their room was like night and day. Vendetta’s side was green and black the only decoration being her striped blanket… which was also green and black. Charlotte’s side, on the other hand, was bright blues and pinks with posters and frilly things just thrown everywhere.

Sophie counted each of her siblings going down the stairs before yelling down to her parents. “We are all ready to go, mom and dad!”

“Finally! Let’s go already!” Blik groaned as everyone went outside and piled into the large van.    

“Okay, Pacific Grove High School, Summerfield Jr. High, Sunnyside Elementary, Blue River Kindergarten, Grandview School for the Culinary Arts, Seaside Community College, and then the bank. Got it dear?” Wanda asked. “Got it and away we go!” Cosmo announced as he drove away from the house.

Cosmo was driving while Wanda sat in the passenger seat. Jimmy and Timmy were arguing about something stupid again while Danny tried to break them up with Sam chuckling at the three. SB was going over some new recipes he’s learned while Patrick drooled at all of them. Tak was messing with his seatbelt as ZIM was ranting about this kid named Dib. GIR, Tikki, and Plagg were playing with Poof happily. Manny was checking himself in the mirror, Jenny and Marinette were checking their Amazon account for new deals as Adrien listened, and Blik was reading the paper. Snap was telling Sophie something cool while she listened writing in her journal, Xavier read a book, and Bunsen was going over his lines once more as Dora giggled while Charlotte talked to her with Vendetta rolling her eyes in disgust at the two.

So yeah that’s my insane family except for my brother who's in college right now. You’ll meet him later!  Anyway, it’s a miracle I’ve survived this long. I’m glad I’m here though. I feel loved where I am and I know that I will always have a place with them even if it seems like nowhere will let me fit in.

[beebosbitchh]

1-65 ;)

holy heck ! thank you sophiw i lov u 🍒

1. Do you ever doubt the existence of others than you?

i dont understand this question?? like sometimes i doubt my own existence and other times i doubt that i exist to certain ppl? ya?

2. On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you?

2,, normal amount? like good for sleep but pitch black is scaryy but not to the point i need the escape ?? if that makes sense??

3. The person you would never want to meet?

guy fieri, i dont think i need to know if hes actually real ? like is he real and from this dimension or from flavortown (which he has a very scarily detailed description of)?? thats not something i need to know

4. What is your favorite word?

hmm, probably ‘fam’ obviously

5. If you were a type of tree, what would you be?

a willow tree !!!!!!!!!! i just talked to my mom about this :-0

6. When you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought?

ngl but i dont look in the mirror anymore unless its lip syncing along to a song sung by a guy/someone w a deeper voice bc i feel like it suits me better! gotta love coping w dysphoria!

7. What shirt are you wearing?

baseball tee, gay

8. What do you label yourself as?

nb, lesbian, fool

9. Bright room or dark room?

dark room

10. What were you doing at midnight last night?

slepe

11. Favorite age you’ve been so far?

10-11 when i was in 5th grade. i still only had two friends but i was way more extroverted and everything was so carefree and i was very invested in adventure time and art. i think that was the most of a childhood i got? i honestly did not do much as a kid and i wish i had..

12. Who told you they loved you last?

sophiw ! tumblr user almightyportraits ! the loml !

13. Your worst enemy?

x

14. What is your current desktop picture?

one from apple called ‘abstract shapes’ its very orange but also blue which is my fave color pairing atm so its perfect

15. Do you like someone?

tumblr user vahilla

16. The last song you listened to?

megan played ‘marceline’ by willow in her car ! a song i suggested to her a few months ago and it makes me very happy that she likes it especially bc we bonded over adventure time in 6th grade :-)

17. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up?

mmyy seelfff ??

18. Who would you really like to just punch in the face?

mmmyseyyffelllff ??

19. If anyone could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do? 

eh whats the point

20. What is your best physical attribute? (showing said attribute is optional)

n o ne ? 

21. If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do?

what is the opposite of nb,, i feel like if i was opposite of how i present id be a girl, which is a verryyy weird thought for me, pass

22. Do you have a secret talent? If yes, what is it?

no :-/

23. What is one unique thing you’re afraid of?

uh first of all blood, like, ill pass out,, second of all,, literally everything worries me

24. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal.

jimmy johns #16, turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, NO MAYO

25. You just found $100! How are you going to spend it?

im a very practical person so the least boring answer i can come up w is more art supplies

26. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go?

denmark

27. An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “Be brand-specific” it says. Man! What are you gonna say about that? Even if you don’t drink booze there’s something you can figure out… so what’s it gonna be?

fukcing , acetoNe

28. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place?

i think a FIRST rule would have to be pretty IMPORTANT so probably smt like how ~WE THE PEOPLE~ are all EQUAL would be a pretty good start and pretty UNDENIABLE and STRAIGHT FORWARD especially if it was the FIRST thing in this,, hmm lets call it the CONSTITUTION, in the completely hypothetical society

29. What is your favorite expletive?

fuck fuck fuck fuck fuk cufck ufc kfuck 

30. Your house is on fire, holy shit! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what’s the one thing you’re going to save from that blazing inferno?

sunglasses??!!! that shit gotta be bright huh>?? gotta protect my retinas 

31. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

i wanna say my first relationship made me a better person but that shit was rreeeaaallyyyy fucking awful and 4 months (+recovery months) that i will never get back and i think ? maybe ?? i wouldve been ok without it ? idk just a thought

32. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool shit… you can move to anywhere else in the world! 

spain ?!?!? why not + i sorta know the language? thatd b cool

33. The Celestial Gates Of Beyond have opened, much to your surprise because you didn’t think such a thing existed. Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person/etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back?

zoey my dog :-( i miss her a lot, this month it will have been two years oh my god i miss her so much

34. What was your last dream about?

the last one i remember was a nightmare about someone tryna murder me i was very scared

36. Have you ever been admitted to the hospital?

i think so , when i was two i got really really sick and couldve died ?

37. Have you ever built a snowman?

ahh yes ! we gave hhimm,, fruit snack nipples, please forgive me fathr

38. What is the color of your socks? 

grey w blue n orange stripes ( again i lov blue n orange together, my shirt is teal and i have an orange hat on wow)

39. What type of music do you like?

all! i had to train this new guy at work and im sooo awkward but once why started talking about music it was easy for me to talk bc it was smt we both really like !!! i felt like i could actually communicate w feeling a disconnect it was nice ! we talked mostly about rap which was cool and unexpected but i could do it ? i really love music and i love being able to know enough to talk about it ,, isk 

40. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?

sunrises, ive been pushing myself to wake up unreasonably early to have more time to myself and i get to watch the sunrise most days which is nice

41. What is your favorite milkshake flavor?

chocolate 

42. What football team do you support? (I will answer in terms of American football as well as soccer)

whom?

44. What do you want to be when you graduate?

college? god i dont even know… smt w art.. by an illustrator or art teacher or freelance artist or graphic designer ,, i really dont know

45. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

one thing ?!!?!? i wish i was neurotypical

46. Are you reliable?

yes? i try hard to be? i hope so ?

47. If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be?

u still a lil bitch ?

48. Do you hold grudges? 

nope i try not to, ive had too many toxic petty people in my life that i dont need to be one myself.. now this is grudges w/o reason, but if ive given people several ‘second chances’ and theyre still (thumbs down) then ill avoid them but w/i reason?

49. If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature, what new animal would you create?

DOG HORSES BIG DOGs

50. What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had?

mm probably smt w my lab partner from last year. she always sends me weird quotes from a fanfiction shes reading and its weird but i really appreciate that she still talks to me or talks to me at all tbh

51. Are you a good liar?

nooo ?? i try not to lie? mb not tell the full truth but idk , i feel like id feel too guilty

52. How long could you go without talking?

uhh literally days like i already fucking do.. i m taking this as verbally but i dont get texts so like, it would not be hard

53. What has been you worst haircut/style?

before i went to short hair i used to alllwaayyys wear a tight ponytail every single day bc i wasnt girly enough to do anything w it and it was really really gross like thank god i cut it all off

54. Have you ever baked your own cake?

heck yeah

55. Can you do any accents other than your own?

*clears throat*

h-

hewwo?

56. What do you like on your toast?

butter and jam

57. What is the last thing you drew a picture of?

x

58. What would be you dream car?

razor scooter

59. Do you sing in the shower? Or do anything unusual in the shower? Explain.

sometimes im just too physically or emotionally exhausted to stand so ill just,, lay down? ive fallen asleep in the shower before ha

60. Do you believe in aliens?

yup

61. Do you often read your horoscope?

whenever it comes up but i dont ,, seek it out

62. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet?

Q

63. Which is cooler: dinosaurs or dragons?

dragons tf

64. What do you think about babies?

evil, ugly, dont see the appeal. open ur eyes ppl !!!! bbs are n Ot cute !!

65. Freebie! Ask anything interesting you can think of.

x

[grrlwonder-archive]

RULES. repost, don’t reblog. tag ten. TAGGED. the bae @magicxecustos TAGGING. @perfectforayear, @thirdwcnder, @theredwonder, @yallneedahero, @favdream, @thegreatunxter, @notbctmcn, @twerpzilla, @illuminatedflight, @xmarksthescott, @futuresuper, @canary-noir, @cacciatriice

BASICS.

 FULL  NAME.   stephanie alice bellinger  NICKNAME.   steph, stephie, stephers, eggplant wonder  AGE.   22 (verse dependent)  BIRTHDAY.   august 17  ETHNIC GROUP.   caucasian  NATIONALITY.   american  LANGUAGE / S. english, swahili, basic spanish & french  SEXUAL ORIENTATION.   heterosexual, bicurious  ROMANTIC ORIENTATION.   panromantic  RELATIONSHIP STATUS. single (verse dependent)  CLASS.   lower  HOME TOWN / AREA.   gotham city, new jersey, usa  CURRENT HOME.   an apartment in the city with a rather lousy landlord  PROFESSION.   law school student

PHYSICAL.

 HAIR.   honey blonde with golden reflects, about mid-back in general length  EYES.   generally described as blue, though they tend to look teal in certain lighting. too round to be almond shaped, too wide to be considered round. bright & almost child-like, but they’re often narrowed in suspicion  NOSE.    once it was cute & button-y, now it’s a little too long & wide. it has suffered too many fractures, most visible one the bridge now  FACE.   round with rather chubby cheeks, a pointy chin, wide forehead, & slight widow’s peak  LIPS.   full & a little round. if she’s not wearing only chapstick, she has on a deep, almost burgundy shade of lipstick, or a bright red lipstick. they tend to be chapped from picking & biting at them  COMPLEXION.   fair, but she tends to tan easily during the summer  BLEMISHES.    there are a few scars from missions gone wrong, one faded one from when she had chickenpox and picked at when she was five SCARS.   her entire body is littered with soft, faded scars. from knife to bullet wounds. there’s a particularly nasty knife slash that goes across her chest; it starts on the middle and ends just short of her left nipple.  TATTOOS.   when her daughter turned 1y/o she used a fake a id to get the outline of a star on purple on her right shoulder blade  HEIGHT.   5′5″  WEIGHT. 129 lbs / 58.5 kg  BUILD.   slender, small waist & wide hips, well toned  FEATURES.   tends looks fairly average from an outside perspective, especially because she tends to slouch a little as to not attract too much attention  ALLERGIES.     USUAL HAIR STYLE.   down, doing its thing, or up into ponytail or braids  USUAL FACE LOOK.    serene & approchable  USUAL CLOTHING.    she wears a lot of muted colors & denim. the occasional leather jacket is a must, along w/ her staple military-green jacket

PSYCHOLOGY.

 FEAR / S.   major abandonment issues. failure. the sound of drills. scalpels, needles, & other medical equipment  ASPIRATION / S.  to do & inspire good on others. prove to the world that your background doesn’t define you  POSITIVE TRAITS.   witty, chatty, friendly, approachable, upbeat, resilient, persistent  NEGATIVE TRAITS.   sarcastic, quick-tempered, vengeful, cynical, stubborn  MBTI.   enfp-a the campaigner  ZODIAC.   leo  TEMPEREMENT.   sanguine  SOUL TYPE / S.   hunter, caregiver, helper all at 17  ANIMALS.   eagle  VICE HABIT / S.   social drinker, former smoker  FAITH.   agnostic  GHOSTS?   was one once  AFTERLIFE?   been there, done that  REINCARNATION?   don’t wanna find out yet  ALIENS? one is her best firend  POLITICAL ALIGNMENT.   fairly liberal. anarchic, even  ECONOMIC PREFERENCE. indifferent  SOCIOPOLITICAL POSITION. shrug emoji  EDUCATION LEVEL.   high school diploma, law student

FAMILY.

 FATHER.   arthur brown  MOTHER.   crystal agnes bellinger  SIBLINGS.   none  EXTENDED  FAMILY.   not in too much contact with her aunts & uncles, grandparents are deceased. cassandra cain is considered an surrogate sister  NAME MEANING / S.   stephanie: french origin, crown. alice: english origin, of noble kin  HISTORICAL CONNECTION ?   none

FAVOURITES.

 BOOK.   the adventures of alice in wonderland  MOVIE. none  5 SONGS.   one girl revolution - superchick, don’t hurt yourself - beyoncé, royal jelly - deap vally, cool girl - tove lo, uprising - muse  DEITY.   -  HOLIDAY.   new years  MONTH.   -  SEASON.   fall  PLACE.   the top of wayne tower  WEATHER. as long as it’s not too hot or cold, she’s okay with whatever  SOUND. the laughter of children by the closest playground  SCENT / S.   sweet / candy  TASTE / S.   warm mashed potatoes with gravy   FEEL / S.   silk, cotton, warmth  ANIMAL / S.   cats  NUMBER.   -  COLOUR.   eggplant

EXTRA.

 TALENTS.   playing the piano. great marksman. quick learner  BAD  AT.   handling abandonment & rejection. thinking before talking  TURN  ONS.   suits!! confidence. intellect  TURN  OFFS.   disregards for others. cockiness.  HOBBIES.   doodling. training. reading  TROPES.   action girl. the chick. girly bruiser  AESTHETIC  TAGS.   cityscape, bruises, neon, bats, shadows, denim, leather  GPOY  QUOTES.   “believe you can and you’re already halfway there.” – theodore roosevelt

FC INFO.

 MAIN  FC / S.   gigi hadid  ALT  FC / S.   nicola peltz  OLDER  FC / S.   margot robbie & charlize theron  YOUNGER  FC / S.   -  VOICE  CLAIM / S.   -

MUN QUESTIONS.

 Q1.   if you could write your character your way in their own movie, what would it be called, what style would it be filmed in, and what would it be about?    A1.  action movie all the way. it would feature the batman: eternal story w/ some major changes regarding steph’s involvement; mainly i would mingle in some of preboot history. occasional flashbacks to stephanie’s god awful childhood to provide background on why she’s so angry at arthur. crystal wouldn’t disappear by the end of it.

 Q2.   what would their soundtrack / score sound like?  A2.   a healthy mix of soundtrack music especially composed for the movie & some post-punk, rock, hip hop to add to the atmosphere of gotham

 Q3.   why did you start writing this character?  A3.    i’ve said it many times before, i was always fascinated by the idea of there ever being a girl robin in the comics that i had never heard of. when i learnt she was batgirl, by heart-eyes levels went off the roof. the more i read about steph, further i liked & identified with her. whens entered roleplaying she seemed like a nice fit for me to grasp as i continued to get more involved in comics. i didn’t plan to fall so much in love with her character, but after writing her for 4 yrs, i’ve become practically a one woman stephanie brown defense squad

 Q4.   what first attracted you to this character?  A4.   two words: girl. wonder

 Q5.   describe the biggest thing you dislike about your muse.  A5.   she tends to speak & act without thinking, mostly in the heat of the moment. while sometimes it is blessing, some others she has ended up severely damaging other people & her relationships with them. this has made her be a little more guarded with her feelings, evading to even say the good things.

 Q6.   what do you have in common with your muse?  A6.   i also tend to put my foot in my mouth, though it takes me far more to realize i’ve done it. i try to keep an optimistic look at things too, but inside i’m cynical as they come. i can also be just as hardheaded tbh

 Q7.   how does your muse feel about you?  A7.  i think she likes me--most of the time. when i’m not putting her thru needless pain & suffering just cuz it’s entertaining for me.

 Q8.   what characters does your muse have interesting interactions with?  A8.   goddamn--well, there’s a lot of people i’ve interacted w/ over the years, so it’s hard to pick & choose. there’s definitely a lot of people i loved interacting w/ that now are sadly gone, & there’s nothing i can do about that. but anyways, let’s see if i can do this

there’s cass, who is as close as it gets to having a sibling for steph. they’re always Up to Something; either between them or against each other. when things get low for one, they’re always for each because they know what it’s like to be seen by others (& amongst the bats themselves) as potential trouble. they’re truly the epitome of the term hetero life partners.

then there’s tim. they have had their ups & downs, but they’re finally at a stable place where they can call each other close friends once more. joint patrols are only made awkward by the fact they are naturally awkward people. (also the earth 3 threads are 👌👌 certified gold)

on the other hand we have tim who is both a blessing & the bane of steph’s existence. everything is made 10x worse by the fact that they there’s a major lack of communication & repressed feelings between them. but hey, even if they took one step forward & two steps back, there has been some progress made.

we also have kon who is slowly but surely becoming one of steph’s favorite people. he’s alway down for some shenanigans. he’s for steph to be around, and he’s definitely made up for the time he had her flying unwillingly.

lately addison & steph have had some super interesting interactions. steph sees a lot of herself from back in her spoiler days in the young vigilante, beyond the obvious physical similarities. she wants to help her reach her potential in a more consistent manner than she had herself--now if only addy would let her know wtf is going on, that would help.

this is getting super long so i’m just gonna quickly mention sheri, tim, kuvira, kory & scott (im prolly missing a few people but this is too long already forgive me. basically, if ur tagged in this thing ilu ok 💖) 

 Q9.   what gives you inspiration to write your muse?  A9.  i guess seeing the people above & just people i want to interact w/ really brings out my muse. reading & re-reading comics definitely does help too; i constantly have this nagging feeling to fix where dc fucks steph up tbh

 Q10. how long did this take you to complete?  A10. i dunno--like 2-3 hrs?? i drafted this & came back to it a couple of times lmao